INTRODUCTION
In this era, where education is still just a dream for numerous children, the entire formulation of educational technology in India seems to be confronting. A considerable number of children have no access to education, educational resources, proper schools, and teachers’ faculty. This problem of India can serve as an opportunity for educational-technology sectors, to expand their business and reach out to these sections of the society but, the inequality in access to technology is another underlying obstacle towards accomplishing success in educational technology. The social and economic backwardness in most parts of India has restricted a large number of people from accessing these technologies and exploit them to the best of their capacities.
This article will give an insight into technology backwardness and the digital framework of India, gender and economic disparity, and the legal relation to the digital divide.
DIGITAL FRAMEWORK IN INDIA
The status quo of digital infrastructure in India is unsatisfactory. The budget for digital learning, as decided by the Ministry of Human Resource Development, has reduced to Rs 439 crore from Rs 609 crore in the year 2019-20. Currently, the government needs to make technology available to as many children as possible, so as to give an impetus to the country to move towards development. In such a situation, reducing in the budget does not seem to be a very responsible and thoughtful act of the government. There exists a lack of digital infrastructure for both the students and teachers and disparity in access to smart-phones and internet access. For battling with the lack of digital infrastructure, the government has started the Digital India initiative. Digital India is an initiative, which has been taken so as to rejuvenate the education system in India. This program aims to bridge the gap of literacy by delivering education through digital platforms to children and teachers. The vision of the program is to make available mobile phones and internet access to everyone at affordable prices. The government is launching various digital platforms for online classes and e-learning like SAWYAM, NISHTHA, etc.
Despite the initiatives taken by the government, millions of children have no access to mobile phones. The lackadaisical digital infrastructure promotes the Digital Divide in India.
TECHNOLOGICAL BACKWARDNESS
For ed-tech to reach every student in India, smart-phones and access to the internet need to be made available to one and all. In India, only 60% of people have mobile phones. According to the National Sample Survey on education, 24% of the population has internet access, which is further divided into 15% of rural households and 42% of urban households[1]. Despite an increase in digital literacy, almost 90% of rural households are still devoid of digital literacy.
People residing in rural areas have little knowledge of e-learning, which limits the scope for their involvement in the ed-tech sector. Many people in rural areas are incapable of reading and writing English; and converting every course offered by e-learning into Hindi and regional languages is an intimidating task. Thus, lack of awareness and knowledge of a language becomes another reason for the technology divide in India.
LEGAL DATA ON DIGITAL LEARNING
Article 21-A: The right to education is a fundamental right in the Constitution of India. This right has been made available to everyone, irrespective of their sex, caste, place of residence, religion, etc. This right provides access to educational resources to every child. These resources include tools for online learning, digital sources, smart classrooms, and educational technologies. In a recent judgment by Telangana High Court, the court mentioned those remote areas and tribal people should have access to digital learning.[2]
RIGHT TO ACCESS INTERNET
In 2019, Kerala High Court stated that the right to access the internet is a part of the fundamental right to education. The judges gave this ruling based on the rule made by the United Nations Human Rights Council, that the right to access to the internet promotes fundamental freedom and is the tool for the right to education.[3] Article 19(1)(a) provides for the freedom of speech and expression. In support of this article and article 21 A: Right to Education, the court declared the right to access to the internet is the fundamental right subject to reasonable restrictions.
The Supreme Court, in hearing on the internet blockade in Jammu and Kashmir, in January, declared that access to the internet is a fundamental right.[4] This decision of SC is in sync with the rules of the United Nations, which recommend that every country should make access to the internet as a fundamental right of the individual.
SOCIO-ECONOMIC DISPARITY LEADS TO THE DIGITAL DIVIDE IN INDIA
● GENDER GAP
Socially, women are treated as inferior to men. This inequality is carried forward in the ed-tech sector too. Statistics show that only 46% of women between the age group of 15-24 own a mobile phone compared to 79% of the men. Form these 46%, only 24% own a smart-phone, while 59% of women own a basic phone and the rest own a feature phone compared to 31% of the men[5]. According to the Internet and Mobile Association of India, 67% of men have access to the internet compared to only 33% of women. When we talk about Rural India, the gap between accesses to technology widens where the figures show that 72% and 28% have access to the internet respectively.[6]
Steps are being taken by the government to encourage enrolment of girls in education, but only 4.8% of the females in the age group of 15-59 receive formal and non-formal training[7]. These statistics are the results of the failure of the digital initiatives taken by the government.
● ECONOMIC INEQUALITY
The number of investments in the Ed-tech sector is increasing substantially in India. The number is aggrandizing, in turn, increasing the economic growth in India. However, economic growth doesn’t ensure people getting equal access to technological resources. There is a wide disparity between the rich and the poor. Among the 20% of poor households, only 2.7% have access to a computer and 8.9% have access to the internet. The percentage is higher when it comes to rich people. For the top 20% of households, the range is 27.6% and 50.5% respectively. Only 8% of the households aged between 15 and 24 have the access to a computer and internet.[8] The proportions also vary state wise. States like Bihar, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, etc. have lower access to the internet, as compared to Delhi, Kerala, Himachal Pradesh, etc.
CONCLUSION
The above data concludes that technological disparity is the ear-splitting reality of India. The Digital India initiative was started in 2015 and has still not been able to complete half of its goal. The government should focus on certain areas to improve digital infrastructure. First, the government should focus on the accessibility and availability of smart-phones and internet, rather than focusing on digital tools and apps. They should set up a committee at the state-level for monitoring the proportions of accessibility of education and submit their report to the centre every month. Awareness is another area where the government has to extensively work so as to bridge gender inequality in access to ed-tech. If the desired steps are not taken by the government soon, the disparity will become a supreme challenge for the entire formulation of educational technology and many people will be left out from the race of development.
REFERENCES
[1] Provita Kandu, Indian education can’t go online-only 8% of homes with young members have computer with net link, Scroll.in (May 5, 2020, 7:30 am), https://scroll.in/article/960939/indian-education-cant-go-online-only-8-of-homes-with-school-children-have-computer-with-net-link, accessed 28 July 2020 [2] ETGovernment, Telangana High Court directs govt to formulate online education policy to offer equal opportunity to rural and tribal students, ETGovernment.com (Jul 15, 2020, 9:57 IST), https://government.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/education/telangana-high-court-directs-govt-to-formulate-online-education-policy-to-offer-equal-opportunity-to-rural-and-tribal-students/76972188, accessed 16 July 2020 [3] Access to internet is a basic right says Kerala HC, The Hindu (Sept 20, 2019, 12:30 IST), https://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/technology/internet/access-to-internet-is-a-basic-right-says-kerala-high-court/article29462339.ece, accessed 29 July 2020 [4] Prabhash K Dutta, Internet access a fundamental right, SC makes it official: Article 19 explained, Indiatoday (Jan 10, 2020, 15:42 IST), https://www.indiatoday.in/news-analysis/story/internet-access-fundamental-right-supreme-court-makes-official-article-19-explained-1635662-2020-01-10, accessed 29 July 2020 [5] Sabina Devan, We invest in tech, then expect people to catch up. And women get left out of Digital India, Theprint (Feb 25, 2020, 2:44 pm), https://theprint.in/opinion/we-invest-in-tech-expect-people-to-catch-up-women-get-left-out-of-digital-india/369918/, accessed 29 July 2020 [6] Provita Kandu, Indian education can’t go online-only 8% of homes with young members have computer with net link, Scroll.in (May 5, 2020, 7:30 am), https://scroll.in/article/960939/indian-education-cant-go-online-only-8-of-homes-with-school-children-have-computer-with-net-link, accessed 28 July 2020 [7] Ibid at 5 [8] Ibid at 6
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