T’puram: Little KITEs IT club programme, which is being implemented in all high schools, will be extended to the UP level on a pilot basis during the next academic year. General education minister N Samsudheen said ‘Little KITEs Junior’ clubs would be launched in select govt and aided UP schools following the state syllabus. Kerala Infrastructure and Technology for Education (KITE), which is implementing the project, has invited applications and interested schools must submit them online through Sampoorna school management system by Sept 30.The initiative is intended to develop digital literacy, technological aptitude, creativity and logical thinking among students from the primary level. Schools will be selected after assessing their ICT lab facilities, the accuracy of information uploaded to Sampoorna Plus and Sametham portals and their participation in initiatives under govt’s 100-day action programme, including Digital Square, Tharapadham and School Wikithon, said KITE CEO K Anvar Sadath.Each unit will comprise 10 to 25 Class VII students. Schools will conduct a special aptitude test based on a questionnaire provided by KITE to select students for the clubs. These students will receive two hours of specialised IT training every month outside regular school hours. KITE will provide expert training to mentor teachers, who will oversee the programme at schools. The circular and model application form are available on KITE’s website.
