THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The 2023 Global Education Monitoring Report published by UNESCO has three special mentions about the use of technology in Kerala’s education sector. The School Wiki portal implemented by KITE is mentioned as an international model under the title “Collaborative work will improve the quality and diversity of content creation”. The report noted that it was a remarkable achievement to develop content about over 15,000 schools in a participatory manner on the School Wiki.
The SchoolWiki (www.schoolwiki.in) portal is the largest repository of information in any Indian language. It has information about schools, state school art festival compositions, paintings and digital magazines.
The model of conducting digital education in schools in Kerala using free software is presented under the title “Some countries have become champions in Free Software”. The report highlighted the state government’s free software policy and noted that 2 lakh laptops were distributed in Kerala schools with the latest free software applications. The use of free software in digital education had earlier caught the attention of national and international agencies including the NITI Ayog. The project helped Kerala save about Rs 3,000 crore.
The third mention in the UNESCO report is by establishing Kerala in the list of states with the highest internet connectivity in schools in India. Education Minister V Sivankutty said that new ICT textbooks will be prepared using the latest free software technologies as part of the curriculum reform.
“Kerala will become a topper in digital education by ensuring effective use of textbooks, strengthening the framework based on free software for mentoring, support, and by creating language labs,” he said. The mentions in the UNESCO report are a recognition for Kerala in integrating technology in education, he said.