Covid effect on education: Smartphones increasing, but digital divide a concern

Report says that irrespective of financial constraints during the pandemic, people still went for smartphones for the education of their wards

The Covid-19 pandemic made smartphones the most effective tool for education, which was mostly online during the period, though its availability across all sections raised concerns about the digital divide, according to the annual status of education report (ASER) – 2021 released on Wednesday.

A student attends an online class at her home. (HT photo)

The report says that irrespective of financial constraints during the pandemic, people still went for smartphones for the education of their wards, with Bihar recording a significant jump in its availability.

The availability was, however, higher among wards of comparatively well-off parents going to private schools, but the survey says even illiterate parents bought mobile phones for their wards’ education.

The report is a household survey conducted via phone in the rural areas and sampling was done from the representative sample of households from the ASER 2018 survey – the last nationwide ASER survey that was carried out in the field. This is the sixteenth ASER report.

Compared to 2018, when smartphone availability was just 36.5% in the country, it jumped to 67.6% in 2021 — 63.7% in the government schools and 79% in the private schools.

In Bihar, the jump was from 27.2% in 2018 to 54.4% in 2021, though it is mostly useful for students in higher classes.

However, more than half the children having smartphones (53.8%) nationwide are not able to use the device for educational purposes. The survey says that the digital divide could be apparent in schools once they open and the weak students would require greater attention to catch up.

There has also been a shift in the gradual admission pattern over the last couple of years. This year, more students in the 6-14 age group got enrolled in the government schools. While 76.9% of students enrolled in the government schools in Bihar in 2020, it increased to 80.5% in 2021.

However, dependence on private tuition has also increased, not only in Bihar, but across the country, except Kerala. The dependence increased especially during the pandemic period, though it may increase the void between those who can afford private tuition and those who cannot.

While 64.3% students enrolled in schools took private tuition in 2020 in Bihar, the figure increased to 73.5% in 2021, which may be due to erratic schooling, engagement of teachers in on-academic work, poor quality and desire to prepare for competitive exams for engineering, medical and other technical or vocational streams.

The survey says it is important to understand the impact of disruption in education in schools so that effective and timely steps could be taken. “With the enrolment in government schools increasing, schools and teachers need to be prepared for that. The involvement of parents in children’s education, as laid down in the new education policy, also needs to be affirmed,” it says.

Dr Rukmini Banerji, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Pratham Educational Foundation, who was awarded the 2021 Yidan Prize for Education Development for her work in improving learning outcomes, said that in Bihar, 95% students whose parents had less than Class 5 education studied in the government schools, while it came down to 76.8% in case of wards of parents having above lass 9 education, indicating that higher the education level of parents, greater the preference for private schools.