Schools across the country have been at halt for six months due to COVID-19 pandemic which has led to a global shift in education but every other person living in vastly different states is paying heed to different kind of problem vis-à-vis digital education. For children in Himachal Pradesh and Delhi where internet penetration is higher it likely means online schooling and attending classes via Zoom calls but for the children in rural areas like Odisha where less than 6% households have internet facilities such options are out of context.

A recent report based on National Statistical Office (NSO) survey on Monday highlighted the immense digital divide across the states, villages and income groups. The report on Household Social Consumption: Education in India was part of NSO 75th round of National Sample Survey conducted from July 2017 to June 2018. The final report was released recently. According to the survey Kerala remains at the top of the pile with 96.2% literacy rate followed by Delhi 88.7%, Uttarakhand 87.6%, Himachal Pradesh 86.6% and Assam 85.9%. On the contrary Rajasthan is the worst performer with literacy rate at 69.7% followed by Bihar at 70.9%, Telangana at 72.8%, Uttar Pradesh at 73% and Madhya Pradesh at 73.7%.

As per the excerpts from the report across India only one in ten household have computer- weather a desktop, laptop or tablet. However almost all homes have internet facility accessed via mobile phone network, in cities 42% have internet access whereas in rural areas 15% are accessed with internet facility. The national capital has the highest internet access with 55% household having facilities in states of Himachal Pradesh and Kerala half of the household are facilitated with internet access. On the contrary one in ten household in Odisha have internet access, there are ten states with less than 20% internet penetration including software hubs like Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.

The biggest divide is of economic status which NSO marked by dividing the population into five equal groups based on their usual monthly per capita income, in Odisha almost 63% top urban quintile have internet access but in the poorest quintile of Odisha the figure dropped to 2.4%. The NSO report states that 20% of Indians above age of 5 had basic digital literacy doubling to 40% in the age group of 15-29 which includes high school as well as college students as well as young parents responsible for teaching their children. Although the digital literacy is most likely to thrive in pandemic the concern remains about basic literacy more than one in five Indians above age of 7 still cannot read and write in any language. Yet over the last decade the literacy rate among women in rural area have increased from 71.7% to 77.7%.

The center has directed State Education Department to map out the online availability to all the students in order to adequately plan curriculum and teaching methods that could reach out widely to students deprived of education during this time. Although much of the focus had been on digital education other platforms like television and radio are also being considered to deliver lesson.