Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala General Education Department took a pioneering step by incorporating modules into the ICT textbooks for Classes 5 and 7 to empower school children to identify fake news on online platforms and conduct fact-checking, according to a senior official here on Monday.
It was done in Kerala even before the UK rolled out its programme, he said.
In 2022, Kerala Infrastructure and Technology for Education (KITE), the technology arm of the department headed by CEO K. Anvar Sadath, imparted training on fake news prevention and awareness creation for 19.72 lakh students in Grades 5 to 10, as part of the Digital Media Literacy programme, he said.
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In the wake of some news reports that the UK is planning to revise its primary curriculum by including this topic as well, Sadath on Monday spoke of the details of Kerala’s programme.
It was the first time in India that such massive training was given to 9.48 lakh upper primary students and 10.24 lakh high school students with the help of 5,920 trainers, he said in a statement.
The 2.5 hours of training, titled ‘Satyameva Jayathe’, focused on four sections, which included the use of the internet in day-to-day life, the rights and wrongs of social media, and how to prevent the spread of fake news.
Awareness about false information shared through digital media, the negative impact it creates on society, and the verification of the authenticity of information were made a part of the training using various case studies, he said.
The students were also taught the meaning and definition of ‘misinformation’ and ‘disinformation’, how non-factual information and misinterpretation of facts are spread on social media, and what social impact facts presented in an emotional language and authenticity of information have, he said.
What Does The New Textbook Include?
“The new ICT textbook includes chapters that equip students to identify fake news and malicious content, embodying the spirit of Satyameva Jayate,” the official said.
Next year, when the ICT textbooks for Classes 6, 8, 9, and 10 are revised, it will be incorporated with the latest developments in the field, he added.
Not only does it teach students to identify fake news and verify its authenticity, but the chapter titled ‘Let’s Search the Internet’ in the Class 5 ICT textbook also covers how to effectively manage screen time.
Similarly, in the Class 7 ICT textbook, the chapter titled ‘Let’s Search and Find’ elaborates on the importance of verifying the authenticity of information and explains why spreading or sharing false information is a crime.
In the ICT textbook for Class 7, for the first time in the country, four lakh students have been given the opportunity to learn about artificial intelligence (AI), Sadath added.
