Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala: In the wake of the Supreme Court verdict on ensuring enough public schools, the Kerala government is accelerating school mapping using free software to ensure adequate access to government institutions across the state.

KITE, under the Department of General Education, is currently mapping public schools on the School Wiki platform through the free software-based OpenStreetMap (OSM). Officials told Mathrubhumi that the expertise of OSM volunteers will now also be utilised for school mapping.

Although the Supreme Court directed that schools should be within a specific geographic limit, officials said the state had already moved ahead with a mapping strategy that integrates public schools into a digital map.

School mapping began in 2009, when institutions were added to the School Wiki. After the Right to Education (RTE) Act came into effect in 2010, mapping was expanded to ensure sufficient school availability in every locality, using Google Maps at the time.

Complete information on 16,000 schools has since been made accessible through the General Education Department’s Sametham portal. The new OSM-based mapping aims to upgrade accuracy and precision, enabling detailed data storage not only on school locations but also on distances between them.

Schools in Kerala

  • Public schools: 13,963
  • Recognised unaided schools: 1,406
  • Total schools: 15,369
  • Lower Primary (LP): 6,790
  • Upper Primary (UP): 2,988
  • High Schools: 3,137
  • Higher Secondary: 2,065
  • VHSE: 389

Kerala General Education Minister V Sivankutty noted that although Uttar Pradesh has a population of over 24 crore and more than 2.5 lakh schools, the student load remains high. In comparison, Kerala, with a population of 3.5 crore, has about 16,000 schools, ensuring far more manageable access and enrolment, he said.