Coronavirus impact: Kerala to train 81,000 primary teachers online through focussed intervention in 11,274 schools

Necessity is the mother of invention goes the old saying and hence Kerala Infrastructure and Technology for Education (KITE) on Saturday decided to give specific IT training in an online mode for over 81,000 primary teachers in the state, through a focussed intervention in 11,274 schools.

It is the first time in India that such a massive specific training for teachers is conducted within a short time by utilising a complete digital mechanism.

K. Anvar Sadath, Chief Executive Officer, KITE, said they had planned for providing this training in three batches in over 1000 centres, with each centre having 25 teachers and two trainers.

"But with all educational institutions now closed on account of preventive measures due to COVID-19 protocols, the online mode has been adopted and would be completed within five days by making effective use of all hi-tech facilities in schools," said Sadath.

They would run the 'enjoy, enhance and enrich English' programme for improving the English language efficiency from March 18 to 27.

Even though educational institutions are closed, staff members have to come to school.

"The special IT training has been arranged with the inclusion of necessary support files, video tutorials and other resources. Teachers would be able to participate in the training programme either through self-learning using the available resources or through group study. Necessary support systems such as video conferencing with a mentor for a fixed number of schools, social media and help desk for doubts clearing and monitoring has also been set-up, added Sadath.