Pre-school kits to be distributed to children without access

Pre-school children devoid of tv or internet facilities would be provided with kits containing activity books, chart papers, and crayons to ensure their education is not disrupted during the COVID-19 pandemic, Minister for Health, Women and Child Development, Veena George said on Sunday.

The minister said the kits would be distributed to 14,102 children across the state and kicked off the initiative by handing over a kit to a child at Kulasekharapathi in Pathanamthitta district here.

She noted that the distribution of the kits would be completed in the coming days.

Initially, the Department of Women and Child Development had launched a program -- 'Kilikonchal' -- through Victor's Channel from June 2020 to ensure that the pre-school education of children was not disrupted during the COVID pandemic.

The second phase of the program started in 2021.

However, it was found that many children could not watch the program as they did not have internet or TV facility at home or due to lack of adequate signal strength, she said.

Therefore, the department came up with the scheme to make such children part of the pre-school education by providing them with the kits, the minister added.