Thiruvananthapuram: When classes switched to online mode due to the COVID outbreak, the KITE (Kerala Infrastructure and Technology for Education) became a huge success. As the children watched the 'First Bell' online classes through Victers channel, Facebook page and YouTube channel of KITE, they could earn Rs 15 lakh within a month through advertisements.
Advertising is allowed with strict restrictions as children are the audience of First Bell. However, KITE managed to get a whopping amount in one month. It is for the first time a government system is getting such a huge revenue through advertising. After the First Bell was initiated, views of other programmes of KITE also increased.
Most number of people watched the introductory class for the students of first standard. The video was watched by 40 lakh people on YouTube. Also 15 lakh viewers subscribed the YouTube channel. When the views on a single day rose to over 54 lakh, more advertisements appeared.
There are thousands of teachers working behind the online classes of KITE. Apart from the production of the KITE Victers, SCERT and SSA also are arranging classes. A total of 18 classes are broadcast a day. Besides telecasting through Victers channel, they used 442 TB data for web streaming.
KITE CEO Anvar Sadath said that only advertisements which are not harmful for children are allowed. If there are no restrictions, the income from advertisements would increase four times. As the viewers can turn off the advertisements, it will not affect the children during studies, he added.
