Online classes 'First Bell' for Kerala school students begins today

The new academic year begins today in Kerala. The Kerala government will begin virtual classes for school students from today, in an effort to ensure that they do not miss out on lessons due to COVID-19 induced lockdown.

More than 45 lakh students will be part of this online initiative.

Director of Public Instruction (DPI) K Jeevan Babu said the classes will be through the Kerala Infrastructure and Technology for Education (KITE)-Victers channel under the name ''First Bell''.

"We very well know the situation of COVID-19, it's spread and how dangerous it is. We need the nod of the centre and the state government to open schools and start regular classes. So the department had decided to start online classes. The classes will be through KITE Victers channel," Babu told media persons as reported by PTI.

KITE has even brought out the timetable for conducting the classes. The sessions will be held from 8.30 am to 5.30 pm from Monday to Friday for all classes from 1 to 12, except class 11, on the channel.

The time slots for different classes vary from half-an-hour to two hours, a press release issued by KITE said.

Here's today's timetable...

12th: 8.30- English, 9.00- Geography, 9.30- Mathematics, 10- Chemistry

10th standard: Physics, 11.30- Mathematics, 12- Biology

9th grade: 4.30- English and 5- Mathematics

8th grade: 3.30- Mathematics and 4- Chemistry

7th grade: 3- Malayalam

6th grade: 2.30- Malayalam

5th grade: 2- Malayalam

4th grade: 1.30- English

3rd grade: 1- Malayalam

2nd grade: 12.30- General

1st grade: 10.30- General Issue

The new method of teaching and studying will be a challenge to the teachers as well as students, Babu added.

The department also informed that all the classes will be in a downloadable format and can be compiled together and shown to those who have missed the class later.

The sessions on Victers channel will be available simultaneously on the KITE Victers website, mobile app, and social media pages.

The department said in the first week, the classes will be telecast on a trial basis and these will be repeated in the second week.

The modules for different classes will be prepared by agencies under the General Education Department such as the State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT), KITE, Samagra Shiksha Kerala (SSK), and the State Institute of Educational Technology.