Teen boys twice as likely to own smartphones than girls in rural India: ASER
The ASER 2023 report focusses on youth aged 14 to 18 years in rural India by surveying 34,745 youth enrolled
Boys in the age group 14-18 years in rural India are more than twice as likely to own smartphones compared to girls, and the latter are less likely to know how to use smartphones than their male counterparts, the latest Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) survey released on Wednesday said.

The ASER 2023 report titled “beyond basics”, led by Pratham Foundation, an education-focussed non-profit organisation, focusses on youth aged 14 to 18 years in rural India by surveying 34,745 youth enrolled in both government and private institutes in 28 districts across 26 states.
This particular age group was covered in the 2017 ASER report.
The report highlights that 89% of the youth in that age group have smartphones at home while 92% of them know how to use it.
Among those who can use a smartphone 31% have their own smartphone, and of them, 19.8% are females and 43.7% are males.
Also Read: ASER 2023: 86.8% of youth in the age group 14-18 are enrolled in an educational institution
Similarly, the percentage of females who can use smartphones remained lower at 89.8% against 94.7% males, the survey report stated.
ASER 2023 also looked at the tasks performed by the teenagers on smartphones including setting an alarm on their phone, searching for specific YouTube videos, sharing with friends, and using Google Maps.
According to the report findings, 80% of the surveyed teens were able to find a specific video on YouTube and among these, nearly 90% can share it with a friend.
At least 70% of youth can browse the internet to find the answer to a question and about two thirds can set an alarm for a specific time.
A little over a third can use Google Maps to find the time taken to travel between two points, the report stated.
However, it highlights that females fall behind in using smartphones and computers than their male counterparts.
While half of all surveyed males have an email ID, only 30% of females had their email IDs. Similarly, only 25.3% females can use Google Maps against 48.9% males.
“Close to 80% of the youth report having used their smartphone to do an entertainment related activity, such as watching a movie or listening to music, during the reference week,” the report stated.
“Although the overall penetration of smartphone technology in rural India has grown enormously in recent years, these results show clearly that girls and young women have far less access to it than their male counterparts,” the report stated.
Madhav Chavan, co-founder of Pratham, the non-profit that carries out the ASER surveys, said: “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.”
Sonal Kapoor, founder director, Protsahan India Foundation, a non-governmental organisation (NGO), said that addressing the digital gender divide requires a comprehensive grassroots strategy encompassing both access and proficiency. “Initiatives to provide affordable or subsidised digital devices to girls, coupled with training programs that enhance their digital literacy, are essential. Community-based workshops, led by female tech experts, can contribute significantly to empowering girls with the skills and confidence needed to navigate the growing digital landscape in the country,” she said.
Meanwhile, the report also raised concerns over online safety as only around half of the surveyed teens know about the safety settings with males are more likely to know about these settings than females.
