With nine million cases, India ranks second in COVID-19 cases globally. The government has temporarily closed school-colleges to prevent the spread of the pandemic.
To compensate for the school closures, Bharat Padhe Online campaign was promoted vigorously. This campaign facilitates the continuity of learning for all through online education, and children are provided education via various digital platforms.
However, it seems that instead of broadening the opportunity of education for all, it had the reverse effect. The gap between the education of boys and girls has been widened due to virtual studies. This difference is being called the digital divide.
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So, it’s important to understand what the ‘digital divide’ is and why is it significant. The term is used to portray the split between those able to access and get benefit from the internet and those who are deprived of such benefits.
This term first came into use in the 1990s. It was noticed that a dearth of information was being created due to the lack of accessibility and availability of the internet. Global attempts were being made to bridge this digital divide and expand the access of infrastructure, applications, and services related to the internet to the common masses.
While the effort was being made to eliminate the difference that arose due to the internet, another disparity has procreated, that is the ‘gender digital divide’. This divergence is equally dangerous because it directly reduces the rights of half the population. Gender digital divide explains that the internet is not as easily accessible to girls as it is available to boys.
Remote learning or e-learning in the corona-era has posed some real challenges for girls’ education. There are many such cases during online studies, in which the tendency of suicide among girls increased as they were struggling to continue their education. In early June, a 14-year-old girl committed suicide in southern Kerala as she did not have a smartphone to study.
A similar incident occurred in West Bengal, where a 16-year-old girl committed suicide due to fear of failure as she didn’t get the opportunity to attend online classes.
Household Social Consumption on Education in India worked on the National Sample Survey Office’s (NSSO) 2017-18 report. It was found that only 15% of the population in rural areas have internet access. At the same time, this access has is reduced to 8.5% for women who have a smartphone or can access broadband/internet if needed.
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It was also found that girls from the economically weaker background are bound to spend more time on household chores due to the closure of the school, and had no separate time left for studies. Apart from this, access to the internet is also a challenge for girls as their education is not seen as a priority and if there are both boys and girls at home, then boys’ have higher chances of getting internet to continue their education.
The latest data from UNICEF shows that across the globe, one out of every seven school-going girls is now lagging in e-learning. The situation is worse in Asian countries and especially in India. There are many reasons for this. For example, one reason is a lack of resources. In the year 2017-18, the Ministry of Rural Development found that only 47% of the households have electricity for 12 hours or more. Also, 36% of the schools are running without electricity. This is making e-learning difficult for all but girls as a subset will be facing more challenges.
Discussing the issues around e-learning, Ambareesh Rai, National Convenor of the Right to Education Forum (RTE Forum), says that digital learning is increasing the digital divide. Children, who are in villages, in the mountains, or any remote areas, that lack electricity, the internet, will not be able to continue their studies. If there is only one smartphone at home, the girls are given little access to it as parents fear for their safety.
It’s not only girls, but many deprived sections of society will be severely affected by the digital divide as e-learning is widening the gap in social strata. Online education is not only widening the gap between rich and poor, but it also has increased the distinction between urban-rural and male-female. In such a situation, the weaker section will become weaker, and all the efforts that were being made for development for years will go in vain. Digital learning might be a successful strategy to prevent the spread of corona; this surely is affecting the education of poor and girls adversely and hence is a direct attack on the right to education.