A school in Puthoor near Kollam has become perhaps the first government school in the state to use virtual reality headsets for teaching.
The Government Higher Secondary School Puthoor has purchased 20 virtual reality headsets to teach subjects such geography and science, and will utilize these during the new academic year.
The headsets are part of the new VR lab that students from various classes will be able to attend during set periods as part of their daily learning.
According to school authorities, the students will be able to 'fly' through the solar system, and go deep inside stars and planets with their VR headsets.
While the VR headsets have been purchased with government grants, the school has also been gifted 21 laptops and learning software as part of a corporate social responsibility (CSR) program by Kerala State Financial Enterprises Ltd.
Virtual reality refers to the use of 3D headset and hand-based controllers that immerse the user into a different world. The world's top selling VR headset - Oculus Quest 2 from Meta - is available on Amazon at Rs 29,000 on online shopping sites such as Flipkart. Apple also has such a device, but its price starts at almost Rs 3 lakhs in India.
Meanwhile, the Puthoor school is also setting up an advanced 'English Lab' to teach the language in such a way that the correct pronunciation, grammar and usage are ensured.