Kerala Integrates Fake News Detection and Fact-Checking into School Textbooks

Thiruvananthapuram: After training around 20 lakhs school students to recognize fake news and misinformation on social media, the state education department has included these skills into the updated curriculum. This topic is now featured in the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) textbooks for Classes V and VII. 

This groundbreaking initiative gains added importance as the UK has opted to include similar content in its national curriculum in response to recent unrest caused by misinformation on social media.

“The new ICT textbook includes chapters that equip students to identify fake news and malicious content,” said K Anvar Sadath, CEO of Kerala Infrastructure and Technology for Education (KITE), the technology division of the state’s general education department.

The department has also chosen to integrate the latest advancements in the field when revising the ICT textbooks for Classes VI, VIII, IX, and X next year.

The updated curriculum not only trains students to spot and verify fake news but also includes practical advice on managing screen time. For instance, the Class V textbook features a chapter called ‘Let’s Search the Internet,’ which addresses screen time management, while the Class VII textbook includes a chapter titled ‘Let’s Search and Find’ that emphasizes the importance of verifying information and explains why disseminating false information is a criminal offense.

Additionally, the ICT textbook provides instructions on the precautions to take before sharing details, the significance of informing sources about the potential consequences of their content, and the concept of copyright.

For the first time in the country, 400,000 students have the chance to cover Artificial Intelligence (AI) through the Class VII ICT textbook. These textbooks are available in Malayalam, English, Kannada, and Tamil at

 www.samagra.kite.kerala.gov.in.

19.72 lakh students receive training in preventing and recognizing fake news

Ahead of incorporating fake news detection into the curriculum, KITE organized a fake news prevention and awareness training for 19.72 lakh students from Classes V to X in 2022 as part of its Digital Media Literacy program. This unprecedented training reached 9.48 lakh upper primary and 10.24 lakh high school students, delivered by 5,920 trainers.

The 2.5-hour training, titled ‘Satyameva Jayathe,’ covered four key areas: using the internet in daily life, the responsibilities associated with social media, the ethical aspects of social media, and methods for preventing the spread of fake news. The training addressed the negative impact of false information shared digitally and taught participants how to verify the authenticity of information through various case studies.

Additionally, the training emphasized understanding the influence of digital media on information exchange, recognizing non-factual content, responding constructively to misinformation, acquiring technical skills to discern the truth behind messages, and developing media literacy to identify and address information glitches.

In 2023, this training module was integrated into Little KITES IT clubs, which have around one lakh student members, and various digital literacy initiatives. Efforts to incorporate it into the curriculum began that year, with the content being introduced to students through ICT textbooks the following year.

On Guard

• The new curriculum instructs students on how to identify fake news and verify its authenticity.

• The Class V textbook includes a chapter called ‘Let’s Search the Internet,’ which also addresses effective screen time management.

• The Class VII chapter, ‘Let’s Search and Find,’ highlights the importance of verifying information authenticity and explains why spreading false information constitutes a crime.