ASER report reveals gender gap in digital literacy, access to smartphones in rural India

While smartphone ownership among students in rural India is on the rise, there persists a striking gender gap in access and usage, according to the Annual Status of Education Report (Rural).

The report, published by non-profit Pratham Foundation, is based on a nationwide survey of students aged 3-16, aimed at gathering data on enrollment rates and reading levels of all students.

Older children are also surveyed about their access to and understanding of digital devices. The survey reported that even though ownership of a smartphone increased among students with age, 36.2% male students owned a smartphone as compared to 26.9% of all female students. These results were replicated across all states.

Additionally, students were requested to perform three digital tasks- set an alarm, browse the internet for specific information and find a video on YouTube.

More than 75% of the students managed to undertake all three tasks. However, gender gaps were observed, with girls (72.4%) lagging behind boys (81.5%). In Southern states such as Kerala, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, girls were at the same level as their male counterparts or even outperformed them.

The survey also attempted to gauge the purposes for which smartphones were used. Of the 82.2% students who said they can use a smartphone, 57% reported using it for an educational activity, while 76% claimed to have used phones to access social media. Of this, 73.4% of girls used social media as compared to 78.8% of boys, according to the survey results.

It is also pertinent to note that across most states, male students were more likely to be aware of safety features on social media as compared to girls. For instance, only 58.7% of all girls knew how to block or report a profile as compared to 65.2% of boys.

Surveys conducted as part of the ASER module also provide relevant insights into various other aspects of children’s schooling and education in rural India.