No Internet Required: Kerala Govt Streams School Classes On TV In Malayalam & English

For the past 2 months, educational institutions have been closed during the lockdown. But as Unlock 1.0 begins, university exams are being re-scheduled to be taken online and school classes are resuming virtually.

According to NDTV, beginning yesterday, the government of Kerala started telecasting digital classes named “First bell” on the Kerala Infrastructure and Technology for Education (KITE)-Victers channel, website, mobile app, and social media pages.

Virtual classes 'First Bell' begin for State school students in Kerala https://t.co/0KW8bKKAcE pic.twitter.com/qi0Je1R6h4

— DD News (@DDNewslive) June 1, 2020

Sessions in Malayalam and English will begin at 8.30 am and end at 5.30 pm. State school students of classes I to XII (except XI) can watch them live or download them.

Hindustan Times quoted Director of Public Instruction (DPI) K Jeevan Babu saying,

“We very well know the situation of COVID-19, its spread and how dangerous it is. We need the nod of the center and the state government to open schools and start regular classes. So the department had decided to start online classes.”

He added,

“We have entrusted the class teachers and school headmasters or principals to make sure that students have access to a television or a smartphone or a computer, and Internet for the classes. If not, they should find an alternative for the students to attend the online classes either in real-time or later.”

Here’s what Twitter thinks of the virtual classes:

A spell of rain drenched #Kerala on June 1 morning as is customary, but with schools remaining closed, children stayed indoors, taking online classes instead. Some schools chose to kickstart the proceedings with a briefing on #COVID19 pandemic& the ways to protect oneself from it pic.twitter.com/oWVfjpDE6r

— S Anandan (@Anandans76) June 1, 2020

Watched some spectacular online classes from Kerala Education department. Great quality!https://t.co/nBJvOPMlhM

— Ullas (@ullasts) June 1, 2020

The age of the celebrity government school teacher? Really enjoying Seventh Standard Malayalam with Manoj S. Mangalath on the Kerala government's Victers channel. https://t.co/XsZkKalPFR

— Aju John (@islandexpress) June 2, 2020

According to The Indian Express, 1.20 lakh laptops and 4450 TV sets were provided to schools to enable access to these sessions. In case of a lack of facilities in remote areas, the government has suggested using libraries or Akshaya centers for classes.

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