KITE rolls out AVGC curriculum in new ICT textbooks for students in Kerala

The Kerala Infrastructure and Technology for Education (KITE) has integrated animation, visual effects, gaming and comics (AVGC) into its school ICT textbooks for all students.

This follows the State’s earlier success in being the first to incorporate Artificial Intelligence, robotics, and fact-checking into the curriculum, KITE CEO and chairman of the ICT textbook drafting committee K. Anvar Sadath said on Sunday.

The revised ICT textbooks, prepared by KITE, which is the technology wing of the Department of General Education, offers the learning opportunity in alignment with the AVGC-XR (Extended Reality) policy introduced by the State government last year.

The new curriculum introduces students to digital arts and music from a young age. “This learning is facilitated through an edutainment approach within the ‘Play Box’ textbook series, using free software such as Omnitux, GCompris, Musescore, Audacity, and the KITE-developed ‘Thalam’ software,” KITE said.

Animation technology is introduced progressively, starting at the upper primary level. Recognising coding as a crucial skill, the curriculum integrates it seamlessly with game design. “In the new era of artificial intelligence, these new ICT textbooks are designed to help students simultaneously acquire technical skills, easily comprehend various subjects, and develop crucial job skills,” Mr. Sadath said.

Mr. Sadath said that the second volume of the textbooks for Classes VIII, IX, and X, prepared in Malayalam, English, Tamil, and Kannada mediums, will reach students after the Onam holidays. KITE has already completed direct training for all ICT teachers to transact the new curriculum effectively.