Thiruvananthapuram: In a groundbreaking move, Kerala has become the first state in India to mandate robotics education for all 4.3 lakh tenth-grade students, commencing from the new academic year on June 2. The integration of robotics into the tenth-grade ICT textbook, specifically the sixth chapter titled "The World of Robots" in the first volume, will empower students to explore fundamental robotics concepts through engaging activities. These include circuit construction, utilising sensors and actuators, and controlling electronic devices using computer programming. This ambitious initiative builds upon Kerala's prior success in making Artificial Intelligence (AI) learning accessible to all seventh-grade students, another national first achieved in the previous academic year. Demonstrating a continued commitment to future-ready skills, AI learning has now been incorporated into the ICT textbooks for grades 8, 9, and 10 as well. The practical experience gained from the robotics curriculum piloted for Little KITEs (Kerala's IT club for students) has been instrumental in shaping this comprehensive rollout for all tenth graders. Kerala Infrastructure and Technology for Education (KITE), the technical arm of the General Education Department of the Government of Kerala, has already distributed 29,000 robotic kits to high schools across the state to ensure the effective implementation of this curriculum. The initial hands-on activity in the textbook challenges students to utilise components from the provided robotic kits – such as Arduino breadboards, IR sensors, servo motors, and jumper wires – to construct an automated sanitiser dispenser that activates upon detecting a hand. Progressing further, students will also delve into creating AI-powered smart home automation systems, including face-recognition-enabled smart doors. To facilitate this, they will utilise the 'Face Detection Built-in Model' within the Pictoblocks software's programming IDE, leveraging webcams on laptops and Arduino kits supplied by KITE to program door-opening mechanisms. KITE's innovative robotics learning approach is designed to equip students with the skills to address a wide range of practical problems through cutting-edge technologies. KITE has already conducted the first phase of training on the new tenth-grade ICT textbook for 9924 teachers. K. Anvar Sadath, CEO of KITE and Chairman of the ICT Textbook Committee, announced that dedicated robotics training for teachers will be organized in July. Furthermore, KITE will ensure the availability of additional robotic kits, extending support to unaided schools following the state syllabus that may require them. The ICT textbook is being provided to all students in Malayalam, English, Tamil, and Kannada mediums, K. Anvar Sadath, Chief Executive Officer, said in a release.
