Why in News?

• Kerala’s KITE initiative has drawn national and international attention for incorporating artificial intelligence (AI) into education in an ethical manner; UNICEF has named it a global best practice in responsible EdTech.

About the KITE Initiative in Kerala:

• KITE: What is it?

  • Kerala’s General Education Department’s technology division is called Kerala Infrastructure and Technology for Education (KITE).

  • It was created to incorporate AI and digital tools into classroom instruction while maintaining teacher autonomy, transparency, and inclusivity.

  • Started by the Keralan government.

  • The goal is to empower educators and safeguard student data sovereignty by facilitating the ethical, equitable, and open-source integration of AI in public education.

The KITE AI Initiative’s Salient Features:

• Training of Mass Teachers:

  • Taught more than 80,000 teachers (in classes 8–12) how to use AI critically, covering topics like curriculum alignment, privacy issues, and bias detection.

• Free and Open-Source Software (FOSS):

  • Used in more than 15,000 schools, FOSS guarantees the independence, affordability, and openness of AI tools.

  • Kerala’s own RAG-based AI engine, Samagra Plus AI Platform, is curated by knowledgeable educators and closely follows the state curriculum to prevent bias and test-prep issues.

• Student-Centric Innovation:

  • UNICEF has recognised Little KITEs IT Clubs as a global best practice for their experiential, contextual learning approach to teaching students robotics and artificial intelligence.

• Data Sovereignty and Bias-Resistance:

  • KITE provides bias-resistant AI responses and steers clear of commercial surveillance models by utilising open datasets and in-house infrastructure.