The 2023 Global Education Monitoring Report published by UNESCO has three special mentions about the use of technology in the education sector in Kerala.
The SchoolWiki portal, functioning under the leadership of KITE, has received a mention as an international model under the title ‘Collaborative work will improve the quality and diversity of content creation’ in the report.
The UNESCO report notes that it is a remarkable achievement to have developed content on more than 15,000 schools in a participatory manner on SchoolWiki, developed on the free software Wikimedia platform.
The SchoolWiki (www.schoolwiki.in) portal is the largest repository of information in a local language in India’s education sector. It contains information on schools, State school art festival compositions, paintings, digital magazines, and Covid-era compositions.
Using only free software for digital education in schools in Kerala is presented under the title ‘Some countries have become champions in free software.’
The report, which highlights the State government’s Free Software policy, also mentions that 2 lakh laptops with the latest free software applications have been deployed in schools in Kerala.
Agencies, including the NITI Aayog, had earlier taken note of the fact that use of free software in digital education had saved the State ₹3,000 crore.
The third mention in the UNESCO report places Kerala on the list of States with the highest internet connectivity in schools in India.
Minister for General Education V. Sivankutty said new ICT textbooks would be prepared using latest free software technologies as part of curriculum revision. Kerala would become the best in digital education by ensuring effective use of textbooks and strengthening frameworks based on free software for mentoring, support, and language labs for a certain number of children. The mention for the State in the UNESCO report was a recognition for integrating technology in education, he said.
