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ASER 2021: Smartphone availability among students doubles in 3 yrs
The smartphone availability among children aged 6 to 14 years in Maharashtra has doubled in the past three years. However, the increase in numbers does not necessarily translate to an increase in access, according ASER 2021 released on Wednesday
Pune: The smartphone availability among children aged 6 to 14 years in Maharashtra has doubled in the past three years. However, the increase in numbers does not necessarily translate to an increase in access, according to the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) 2021 released on Wednesday. A similar trend was seen across India.
The report also reveals 9.2% rise in student enrolment in government schools in the 6-14 years of age group in Maharashtra in three years since 2018, as per ASER 2021.
The proportion of children taking tuition, according to ASER, has increased from 2018 to 2021, regardless of grade, school type, or sex. Currently, almost 40% of children take paid private tuition classes across India. In Maharashtra, enrolled children taking tuition have also increased from 14.2 per cent in 2018 to 20.7 per cent in 2021.
About smartphones, students in higher grades such as class 9 and above, as per the ASER report, were given more accessibility smartphones as compared to students from class one and two.
“In 2018, 42.3% of children in government schools across Maharashtra had at least one smartphone at home. This proportion increased to 76.3% in 2020 and grew further to 85.5% in 2021. However, household economic status along with parents’ education level affects smartphone availability for students,” stated the report.
Dinkar Temkar, state education director (primary), said that the accessibility has improved for students. “However, as schools are reopening now for higher standards, younger students will also have more access to smartphones to resume their studies. As we are going back to offline mode, we are trying to engage students in offline education and get them away from smartphones,” said Temkar.
The report has also highlighted that as parents’ education level increases, the likelihood that every household has a smartphone also increases.
“In 2021, over 80% of children in Maharashtra with parents who had studied at least till class 9 had a smartphone available at home, as compared to just over 50% of children whose parents had studied till class 5 or less. Notably, though, even among children with parents in the ‘low’ education category, over a quarter of households had bought a new smartphone for their children’s studies since the lockdown began in March 2020,” said the report
The report was published by NGO Pratham and has evaluated all Indian states based on different parameters. The report states that the availability of smartphones in children’s homes has almost doubled from 2018 to 2021, regardless of school type.
Speaking about the accessibility of smartphones, city-based education activist Mukund Kirdat said that in some pockets, smartphones are accessible for children, however, that may not be the case for most parts of Maharashtra.
“Different regions face different issues. Pune district number clearly states that many students do not have access to smartphones at all. And even if they do, there are other siblings at home who need the phone. There is also a mobile network connectivity issue which affects the online education of the child,” said Kirdat.
