India News | No Notable Variations in Access of Technology Between School-going Girls and Boys: Survey

New Delhi, Apr 18 (PTI) There are no notable variations between school-going boys and girls when it comes to access to technology, according to a survey conducted by the Central Square Foundation.

Under the Bharat Survey for EdTech (BaSE), more than 6,000 households in six states — Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram, Odisha, Telangana and Uttar Pradesh — were surveyed covering 9,867 children.

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"Sixty-eight per cent of girls had 'shared access to smartphones compared to 64 per cent boys whereas 7 per cent of boys had 'dedicated access' to smartphones compared to 3 per cent girls. A lower proportion of boys in rural areas were non-users of smartphones (15 per cent) compared to girls (21 per cent). Additionally, there were no notable variations in access to the internet," the survey report said.

The survey found that 33 per cent of the households believed that in-school education was not sufficient for performing well in studies. However, regional and settlement-level variations were observed.

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"Odisha reported the highest proportion of households that believed in-school education was insufficient (65 per cent), whereas households in Telangana reported the lowest proportion (9 per cent). Additionally, a greater proportion of households in urban areas believed that in-school education was insufficient (38 per cent), compared to households in rural areas (32 per cent)," it said.

The survey found that among children who were currently not using technology for learning, 61 per cent cited reopening of schools after the coronavirus-induced lockdown as the most prominent reason.

"Thirty per cent of respondents cited the availability of other learning avenues (such as tuition) as the reason for not using technology for learning," it said.

Seventy per cent of children in the surveyed households received some learning support from household members.

"Forty per cent of these children received support from their mothers. Twenty-three per cent of children who received learning support at home were supported by their fathers and 17 per cent of children by their older sibling(s). Children in primary grades required relatively more at-home learning support (80 per cent of children in the primary grades, compared to 70 per cent of children in middle grades, and 52 per cent of children in secondary grades).

"More than 75 per cent of household members kept track of what was done in the child's school and supported them in completing their homework," it said.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)