Kerala has launched ‘Digital Square’, a new initiative aimed at bringing technology into primary school classrooms and improving digital learning among young students. Introduced by Kerala Infrastructure and Technology for Education (KITE), the technology wing of the state’s General Education Department, the programme is part of the Kerala government’s 100-day action plan for the education sector, reported PTI.
The initiative was inaugurated by General Education Minister N. Samsudheen during a statewide orientation workshop held in Malappuram. The event connected over 4,000 headmasters and headmistresses from schools across all 14 districts through an interactive video conference.
According to KITE, the programme aims to strengthen digital literacy by integrating technology into classroom learning while encouraging self-learning, creativity and gamified education. It also seeks to create an inclusive digital learning environment for students.
Under the scheme, government and aided primary schools with the required hardware infrastructure will receive a dedicated software package featuring educational and creative applications. The software is based on Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) and includes accessibility features such as audio assistance for visually impaired students and high-contrast interfaces for Children with Special Needs.
The package includes the GCompris educational suite, language-learning tool e-Cube, and applications for music, digital painting and animation. It will also introduce students to concepts such as animation, visual effects, gaming and comics from the primary level.
KITE CEO K. Anvar Sadath said the organisation had developed a dedicated FOSS-based edutainment package for the programme.
“The package ensures equal access to high-quality digital learning tools without commercial lock-in, while also providing built-in filtering mechanisms and digital safeguards for young learners,” he said.
Alongside Digital Square, the state government also launched several initiatives under its 100-day education action plan. These include Cyber Safety Protocol 2026, which mandates school-level cyber safety committees to protect students from AI-driven risks and other online threats, Tharapadham, a digital platform to monitor learning outcomes and attendance, and the School Wiki-thon campaign to strengthen local knowledge repositories. The government also announced plans to expand Little KITEs IT clubs to upper primary schools to help students develop digital skills from an early age, reported PTI.
