Nipah outbreak | Online classes for students in Kozhikode’s containment zones

Minister directs KITE to arrange online classes for students in containment zones. G-Suite platform rolled out by KITE to facilitate online classes. G-Suite available on public domain kiteschool.in. No sensitive data needed. Teachers, students can log in using 'PEN' number, school code & admission number. Platform features live classes, doubts clearing, assignment submission, quiz. Host control facility to regulate classes & users. G-Suite login provided to 20 lakh students & 1 lakh teachers. Arrangements made for schools in rain-hit districts.

General Education Minister V. Sivankutty on Wednesday directed Director of General Education Shanavas S. to arrange online classes so that students in schools within containment zones declared in connection with the Nipah outbreak in Kozhikode district could attend lessons sitting at home.

Accordingly, the Kerala Infrastructure and Technology for Education (KITE) has been entrusted with making the arrangements for online classes using its G-Suite platform.

KITE had rolled out the G-Suite for Education platform in 2021 to facilitate online classes during the pandemic. Now, in the wake of the Nipah outbreak, G-Suite has been made available on the public domain kiteschool.in. There is no need to provide any sensitive data pertaining to students such as UID, mobile number, or email for G-Suite, over which KITE will have complete master control.

Teachers can log into the portal using their ‘PEN’ number, while students can use their school code and admission number. Only students registered on the Sampoorna portal can log into G-Suite. Except for those allowed by teachers, no one from outside can take part in the online classes. As a result, students’ privacy and online safety are ensured.

Besides live classes, the platform also has features that enable students to clear doubts, submit assignments, and ask questions in the form of quiz. Activities uploaded by students in the classroom on the platform can be assessed online, marks or grades awarded, and student attendance recorded.

As each category of users such as teachers and students have special permissions, teachers can divide the classes into groups if they wish. School head teachers will have ‘host control’ facility to regulate classes and users through options such as meet disable, mute, screen share control, and chat control.

In the 2021-22 academic year, G-Suite login was provided to 20 lakh students in classes 8 to 12 and one lakh teachers.