Kerala has initiated a ‘Student Mentor’ program under its Little KITEs initiative, deploying nearly 8,000 Class 9 students statewide. This effort aims to strengthen digital learning, foster leadership skills, and provide peer-to-peer support among school children. The program, launched on June 21, focuses on enhancing educational outcomes and digital equity across the state’s schools.
The Kerala Infrastructure and Technology for Education (KITE), the technology arm of the General Education Department, selected these students from its extensive Little KITEs network. This network comprises 1.8 lakh members, making it India’s largest ICT-based student community. The program currently operates through 2,282 school units, supported by approximately 4,200 trained teacher-mentors.
Two to four students were chosen from each school unit to serve as mentors. This selection process established an approximate mentor-to-student ratio of 1:10. Criteria for selection included technical skills, leadership qualities, communication abilities, active participation in club activities, and a willingness to support fellow students.
These student mentors will assist their assigned peers in understanding academic lessons, including information technology subjects. They will also support teachers during classroom sessions and coordinate various club activities. A key responsibility involves identifying students lacking access to smartphones or computers at home and facilitating their use of school laboratory computing facilities, promoting digital equity.
KITE Chief Executive Officer K Anvar Sadath emphasized that the initiative seeks to cultivate empathy, collaboration, and communication skills alongside technological competence among children. He conveyed this during an online orientation program for the selected student mentors. This approach extends beyond technical instruction to broader social and emotional development.
The Little KITEs network has a history of supporting large-scale educational interventions. Before the SSLC IT practical examinations in March, which introduced a robotics component, Little KITEs members trained over 3.95 lakh Class 10 students across Kerala. This demonstrates the network’s capacity for widespread educational support.
The network also plays a significant role in the ‘Sarvam AI Mayam’ project, an initiative described as India’s largest artificial intelligence literacy campaign. This project aims to train six lakh parents in AI literacy, with approximately 1.78 lakh parents having completed the training so far. The student mentor network is expected to bolster future digital literacy and technology education campaigns throughout Kerala.
The newly established student mentor network is anticipated to significantly strengthen future digital literacy and technology education campaigns across Kerala. This initiative builds on the Little KITEs model, which has garnered international recognition for its innovative approach to student engagement and technological education.
The long-term impact on student academic performance and digital inclusion remains to be fully assessed. Continued monitoring of the mentor-to-student interactions and the effectiveness of resource allocation will be crucial. Future developments will likely focus on expanding the program’s reach and refining its methodologies to address evolving educational needs.
