PRINCE KUMAR
Ranchi, May 18: Various studies have pointed out that there is a digital divide among students in accessing online classes based on their socio-economic status, however a study conducted by Quest Alliance, a not-for-profit trust, reveals that there is also a huge gender gap in access to mobile phones and its usage.
The study titled, “Understanding mobile learning behaviour of adolescent girls during the COVID 19 pandemic” was released at a press meet held on Wednesday. The responses of as many as 500 adolescent girls in middle and high schools across three states (Jharkhand, Bihar and Gujarat) were sought for the purpose of this study.
The study noted there was a visible correlation between the number of mobile phones available in a household and the time that adolescent girls got to spend online. The press meet was conducted during the “State of Adolescents in Jharkhand” event which is a collaborative initiative by Quest Alliance, Sampoorna Consortium and 10 to19 Dasra Adolescents Collaborative.
For instance, in Jharkhand, the majority of the adolescent girls (51%), spent less than an hour per day on their mobile phones if their household had only one mobile phone. However, if the household had two mobile phones, then 83% of the adolescent girls spent between one or two hours per day.
Deepika Singh, Associate Director, Schools Programme said, “With an increase in the number of mobiles in the household, adolescent girls tend to spend more time on mobile. It is seen that in households with one mobile device, boys get preference to attend online classes over girls.”
| State | Number of mobiles in the household | Time spent on the mobile | |||||
| < 1hr | 1-2 hr | 2-3hr | 3-4 hr | >4 hr | Overall | ||
| Bihar | 1 | 61% | 17% | 22% | 1% | 0% | 100% |
| 2 | 20% | 69% | 11% | 0% | 0% | 100% | |
| Gujarat | 1 | 15% | 12% | 23% | 27% | 23% | 100% |
| 2 | 13% | 10% | 19% | 32% | 25% | 100% | |
| Jharkhand | 1 | 51% | 45% | 3% | 1% | 0% | 100% |
| 2 | 16% | 83% | 1% | 0% | 0% | 100% | |
While most students have expressed their preference for offline classes over online classes, a significant chunk of adolescent girls in Jharkhand (36%) preferred online classes.
Speaking at the press meet, Soma Sau, a class 10th student of KGBV Jamshedpur said, “I like online education as I can attend it from the comfort of my home. Moreover, we did not have access to mobile phones to learn before the online classes. Some of the online lessons can be accessed online at any time of the day so this helps me follow my own routine.”
