Kerala’s “First Bell”: A Mass Movement to Democratise Digital Education -Mukulika R

-Newsclick.in

The state is now witnessing a historic mass movement that could give us crucial lessons on both how to save public education and democratise virtual learning.

June in Kerala began with the devastating news of a 14-year old’s suicide in Malappuram, which allegedly took place due to her lack of resources to attend the virtual classes organised by the state government. To circumvent Kerala’s strict COVID-19 restrictions put in place since two months, the government’s Education Ministry has begun online classes for public school students — the pilot series of which was released on the first of this month.

"There is a television at home but that has not been working. She told me it needed to be repaired but I couldn't get it done. I couldn't afford a smartphone either," said the 14-year old’s father to the media. The family belongs to a Scheduled Caste background and the father is a daily wage earner.

The Chief Minister in a press conference later in the day repeated what the government had stated earlier — that the initial set of lessons were trial classes that were to be retelecast entirely the week after. Unlike in other places, Kerala has gone a step further in democratising the process by televising the classes through a government-run channel available on all cable TV networks, ensuring that they are not on the internet alone.

Please click here to read more.