Only 57 per cent of rural Indian children use phones to study: ASER

The 2024 Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) released on 28 January shows that 82 per cent of children in rural India in the age bracket of 14-16 know how to use a smartphone, but in the week preceding the survey, only 57 per cent had used it for educational purposes.

This, while 76 per cent of these children reported using their smartphones to access social media during the same period.

Based on a rural household survey based on responses from nearly 6.50 lakh children in 17,997 villages across 605 rural districts, the annual report for the first time has a section on digital literacy, for children in the 14-16 age group. This section covers self-reported data on smartphone access, ownership, and usage, along with a one-on-one assessment of basic digital skills.

The ASER pointed out that nearly 90 per cent of boys and girls reported having access to a smartphone at home. However, the ownership of smartphones among the target group remains relatively low, though it increases as they grow older, according to a report in The Print. 

The report also highlights a significant gender gap in smartphone ownership: “Of the children who could use a smartphone, 27 per cent of 14-year-olds and 37.8 per cent of 16-year-olds reported having their own phone.” The gender disparity is consistent across states, with 36.2 per cent boys owning a smartphone compared to just 26.9 per cent of girls.

Although the use of a smartphone for educational activities was similar among girls and boys, it is stated that girls were less likely to report using social media than boys (78.8 per cent boys compared to 73.4 per cent girls). 

“Kerala stands out in this respect, with over 80 per cent of children who reported that they used the smartphone for educational activity and over 90 per cent using it for social media,” the report says.

It is noteworthy that boys in the targeted age group demonstrated a higher level of awareness about cybersecurity and digital skills than girls. “Among children who used social media, knowledge of basic online safety measures was notably high — 62 percent knew how to block or report a profile, 55.2 percent knew how to make a profile private, and 57.7 percent knew how to change a password.”

Boys showed significantly higher awareness of these safety features than girls, with the gap being evident across most states, the report adds.

On the day of the survey, 70.2 per cent of boys and 62.2 per cent of girls were able to access a smartphone to complete digital tasks, including setting an alarm, searching for information, and locating a YouTube video. 

Over three-quarters of children completed these tasks, and more than 90 per cent of those who found the video were able to share it. “However, gender gaps were evident, with the largest difference in setting an alarm — 81.5 percent of boys vs. 72.4 percent of girls,” the report says.

In states like Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and Kerala, however, girls performed equally or better than boys. 

Only 18 per cent of households surveyed had at least one member who knew how to operate a computer.

ASER 2024 also sheds light on a notable increase in the percentage of schooled mothers. Ten years ago, in 2014, 43 per cent of mothers and 25 per cent of fathers of children aged 3-8 had no formal schooling.

By 2024, this number dropped to 24 per cent for mothers and 16 per cent for fathers. Over the same period, the proportion of mothers who completed at least primary school surged from 43 per cent to over 64 per cent, while for fathers, the increase was from 61 per cent to 72 per cent. 

The report emphasises that effectively harnessing this rise in human capital within families is crucial.

“It is also important to note that the proportion of schooled mothers has been growing significantly. These mothers are an important demand driver for education. Improvement in local Anganwadi centres is not just supply-based, but there is a strong demand side to it. The national policy and the mass-scale push from civil society for stronger early years education have led to meeting the demands of the people, especially the increasingly schooled mothers,” Madhav Chavan, co-founder and CEO of the educational non-profit Pratham, is quoted as saying in the report.

According to the report, both student and teacher attendance in government primary schools have shown small but consistent improvements since 2018. Average student attendance rose from 72.4 percent in 2018 to 73 percent in 2022, reaching 75.9 percent in 2024. 

Similarly, average teacher attendance increased from 85.1 percent in 2018 to 86.8 percent in 2022, and further to 87.5 percent in 2024. This positive trend is primarily driven by improvements in attendance in Uttar Pradesh.

“In a village or a community, some children go to private school, some to government school, others to private classes and some do not go to school at all. This is somewhat of a chaotic situation at the level of the village and also at the larger community level, which reflects in the quality of learning in schools,” said Chavan.

However, the ASER 2024 also highlights a sharp rise in the proportion of government primary schools with fewer than 60 students, increasing from 44 percent in 2022 to 52.1 percent in 2024.

More than 80 percent of primary schools in J&K, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Nagaland, and Karnataka, among other states, are considered small schools. Notably, Himachal Pradesh has the highest proportion of small upper primary schools (75 per cent).

Additionally, the report states that two-thirds of classrooms for classes 1 and 2 in primary schools were identified as multigrade, meaning students from different grades were taught together in the same classroom. This trend reflects the challenges faced by small schools in managing diverse age groups and learning levels within a single space.

(With inputs from The Print)