LITTLE KITEs and UNICEF
On 6 July 2024, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan released a report titled, 'Empowering adolescents with future-ready skills – the inspiring story of Little KITEs’ during an event held in Thiruvananthapuram.
The report was based on a study conducted by IT for Change. The report highlights how the LITTLE KITEs program, implemented by Kerala Infrastructure and Technology for Education (KITE), across 2,174 high schools in Kerala, equips students with learning that goes beyond technological skills. The program helps students develop an inclination towards inquiry, imagination, and inclusion, apart from advanced skills in the areas of AI, robotics, etc. One of the components of the program, Amma Ariyan, equips students to teach their mothers basic digital literacy skills, as well as gain a critical understanding of digital technologies, to avoid being victims of fake news, scams, etc. The report can be accessed here.
Our Director and Lead - Education and Technology, Gurumurthy Kasinathan, took part in the event and spoke on the need for a ‘Big Kites’ program, which would focus on education for adults and lifelong learning, mediated by digital technologies, including social media platforms. Such education is essential to build the ‘political will’ to address societal challenges of climate change, social strife, and unemployment, he underlined. His talk can be accessed here (from 1.17).