Thiruvananthapuram, Jun 1 (IANS): The new academic year in Kerala began on Tuesday, but like in the previous year, this time too, students are in the study from home (SFH) mode -- online classes, as the second wave of Covid-19 rages through the state.

The classes will once again be aired through the KITE-Victers channel as a result around 3.8 milliion school students attached to the state education curriculum will have to study without physical interaction with teachers.

Last year, KITE had developed over 8,300 digital classes and these were aired through KITE Victers channel as part of the First Bell programme.

All the schools in the state have been given the node to conduct their own inauguration in the online mode.

Addressing the students from his residence, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said it's during the tough times that the children will be able to learn new lessons, as he inaugurated the session.

"We assure all that like the last year we will be imparting online education and we will be trying to improve and better the output compared to the last academic year. We all know that it's a tough time for our students who sit at home. But we should tell them, that the world over the situation is the same and we can assure them that as normalcy returns, the students can get back to their classrooms," said Vijayan.

State Education Minister V.Sivankutty and two of his cabinet colleagues were present at the Cotton Hill Girls School, in the state capital city, along with a handful of teachers and other administrative staff during the inauguration ceremony.

Sivankutty said that at the moment none can predict when the children can return to their classrooms and for the time being classes would be in the digital mode. His ministry is working out to see how best the classes can be made interactive, as students need to interact with their teachers.

As the first step during the first week there would be bridging classes to connect with what happened in the last academic year so that the continuity in the digital mode can go forward smoothly.

"My sister and I, were hoping against hope that this year we will be able to go to school. Prior to the Covid period, at times we used to be lazy to return to school after a weekend break, but after sitting at home for the entire previous academic year, our only wish is, we really want to get back to school, as we have now realised what it means to be in school," said a Class 6 student.