Introduction

During the COVID-19 pandemic in India, schools were closed, and for the first time, it was felt by the educationists and the government alike that the use of technology in the field of education will transform the whole learning process to the benefit of students. Undoubtedly, the use of the Internet and computers, a new innovative system of imparting education to the students at home was introduced in the year 2020-2021. This system of e-learning fulfilled the vacuum caused by the Coronavirus pandemic. In this system, the blackboards were replaced mainly by tablets, laptops, and computers. In this context, it is worth mentioning that the use of computers and the Internet in the field of education is two decades old in India. Some progress has also been made. Madhav Chavan, the co-founder, and CEO, of PRATHAM, has aptly described the situation as such: 

“Two decades ago, there was much hope that computers with the internet would revolutionize education. A decade later, mobile technology led to the belief that education anytime anywhere was possible. From one laptop per child, we started thinking of mobile devices replacing books. Now we are able to reach a situation when there will be a mobile phone in every home. In its survey of 14-18-year-olds across the country, the recently released Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) 2023 shows that about 89 percent of youth in the surveyed age group of 14-18, said they have a smartphone at home.”

In this regard, it would be worthwhile to enumerate the cast a look on the important features of the ASER 2023. This Report was released on 17th January 2024, and the survey was conducted in 28 districts across 26 states, with a sample size of 34,745 youth, as such:

1. Rural-Urban Digital Divide Narrows in 14-18 Age Group

Rural-urban digital divide is narrowing fast in the 14-18 age group, but girls are falling behind in both access and digital tasks.

2. Digital Shift

• 89% have a smartphone at their home.
• 92% can use smartphones.
• 9% have a computer.
• 52% can report/block a profile.
• 52% know how to change passwords.
• 48% know how to make a profile private.
• Nearly 80% used smartphones for entertainment-related purposes, such as watching a movie or listening to music.

3. Digital Gender Gap

• 72.9% of males are likely to bring a smartphone, while for females, it is 62%.
• In the case of ownership, 44% of males have their own smartphone.
• For females, only 20% have their own smartphone.
• 51% of males and 30% of females have email IDs.
• 20% and 9% of females have sent an email.
• Across all digital tasks, males outperform females.

4. School-College Enrolment

86% enrolled in school or colleges. The gender gap in enrollment is narrowing in higher classes. More youngsters have eight or more years of schooling-84% compared to 81% in 2017.

5. Reading, Division Ability

• In 2017, 76.6% could read class II-level text. In 2023, this number is lower at 73.6%. About 25% still cannot read class II level text fluently in their regional languages.
• In 2017, 39.5% could solve a simple (class III/IV level) division problem. In 2023, this proportion is slightly higher at 43.3%. Only 43.3% can do such problems correctly.
• 57.3% can read sentences in English. Of those who can read English, almost three quarters 73.5% can tell their meanings.
• Females (76%) perform better than males (70.9%) in reading class II level text in their regional languages.
• Males are better than females in arithmetic and English reading.

6. Stream-Wise Performance

Class XI or higher: More than half (55.7%) are enrolled in the arts/humanities. Females (28.1%) are less likely to be enrolled in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics than males (36.3%).

7. Survey Learnings

• Good enrolment shows more youth can be trained before they leave school.
• Close to 60% can read simple English.
• Digital access is permeating rural India.
• Time to plug the educational gap through this medium.
• Math abilities are key to basic daily tasks involving simple comprehension and financial calculations.
• Similarly, foundational learning is a key differential and can help do daily tasks better.

The Prominent Areas of Concern

1. Gender Divide Obstructs Access to Digital Learning. Females are lagging behind in digital learning as they don't possess electronic equipment like laptops, mobile phones, computers and other such devices. Consequently, girls lag behind boys in digital tasks. For example, in the ASER survey, it was found that half of all surveyed boys had an email ID. On the other hand, the number was only 30% for girls. Similarly, only 25.3% of girls could use Google Maps against 48.9% of males. Madhav Chavan, the co-founder of PRATHAM, said in this context, “Looking at all the data presented by ASER 2023, the reduced capacity of females to perform several tasks like accessing services, or making payments, or being safe on the internet is strongly related to the constraint in using the devices due to absence of ownership. As in the case of every freedom, there is a risk and an opportunity.” Thus, the message is clear. The need of the hour is to equipment females with necessary electronic gadgets.
2. The Use of Smartphones is not Done for Skilling Purposes. According to the ASER 2023 survey, 90% have a smartphone, but they primarily use it for entertainment purposes. This clearly implies that the use of smartphones is not being done for skilling purposes. Already the Report has highlighted the fact that about a fourth of those surveyed find it difficult to read a Grade 2 level text in the local language and more than half struggle with arithmetic skills they should have been proficient in by Grade 5. This has serious implications on the country's labour force. No skilling programme can succeed in this backdrop. “A skilled workforce or lack of it also has a significant impact on a country's position within the global economy. This is where India's biggest challenge vis-a-vis exploiting its demographic dividend lies. The ASER 2023 report titled ‘Beyond Basics’ shows that even basic learning outcomes continue to be very poor among people in the 14-18 age group. On some fronts, there has been a deterioration compared to pre-pandemic levels…. With this kind of learning deficit, it is almost a given that they will never be able to land respectable jobs.”
3. This is to be noted that the information presented in ‘educational’ videos are monological and unidirectional. This undermines the possibility of discussion, argument, and contestation of ideas in a classroom. Therefore, if the digital platform is accepted as an instrument of imparting education, the above aspect has to be kept in mind, and constant changes are needed to be affected to enhance the quality of teaching.

Conclusion

The ASER 2023 survey report is an eye-opener in various aspects. It has reemphasized the need to bridge the digital divide among males and females as far as the availability and use of electronic equipment like laptop, computers and mobile phones are concerned. It has also highlighted the gaps of learning at various levels of students, particularly in the subjects of arithmetic and English. This deterioration in the basic learning outcomes causes concerns. In the prevailing scenario of economic growth worldwide, Indian youth will find it difficult to get better jobs until and unless they are highly skilled. The use of advanced technology using computers and mobile phones will certainly give a fillip in this regard. However, in case of weak foundational skills, it would be a herculean task. Besides that, the school-going students should be taught multiple uses of mobile phones and laptops, so that they could use these devices in more fruitful ways. One more challenge is to thwart the students from going to social media in lieu of opting for educational videos. For this, the experts in the field are expected to come up with new ideas and interesting videos. The use of advanced technology such as Artificial Intelligence can also be beneficial in many respects. This is high time to take cognizance of the points raised as a word of caution in this regard and go for corrective steps for a better future of the students, in general.

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References: 

• Madhav Chavan, Classroom At A Click, The Indian Express, Jan 18, 2024.
• The Economic Times, Jan 18, 2024.
• Fareeha Iftikhar, Gender divide obstructs access to digital learning, Hindustan Times, Jan 18, 2024.
• Editorial, Hindustan Times, Jan 19, 2023.
• Deepika Gupta, Under The Digital Gloss, The Indian Express, Jan 22, 2024.