The state began digital classes on June 1, the beginning of the academic year. (File)

‘First bell’, the digital classroom started by the Kerala government to impart education to 41 lakh students in the state after schools shut due to the lockdown, has gained a global audience, officials said.

K Anwar Sadat, the CEO of Kerala Infrastructure and Technology for Education (KITE) —the state’s nodal agency for ICT education in schools—said: “Even as TV remains the main medium for students, the web streaming platform of KITE VICTERS has had a response from several countries. As much as 442 TB data has been reported from 141 countries. Of the total viewership of the classes through web-streaming, 10 per cent is steadily from the US, Europe and West Asia. That shows we have a global audience. We assume expatriates from Kerala would be making their wards watch the classes.”

The CEO added: “Apart from the tremendous response the web streaming of classes get every day, there is regular viewership in YouTube channel, which is also from outside Kerala. The average daily viewership of classes in YouTube alone is 54 lakh, which translates into 5 lakh hours a day.”

Sadat said that since several places in Kerala have been declared Covid-19 hotspots, arrangements were made for preparation of classes with the support of 2,000-odd high-tech schools from different districts.

The state began digital classes on June 1, the beginning of the academic year. As many as 2.42 lakh students did not have access to TV or the Internet at their homes, leading to a spontaneous mass movement to ensure digital learning facility for the under-privileged.

The KITE VICTERS, under the education department, has already aired 1,000 classes through the First Bell programme.