Evolving Trends in Computer Availability in Indian Schools and Households: A State-Level Comparative Study

Abstract

The education system across the world has undergone major transformations in the technological domain of knowledge. As a result, computer education, in its own way, has managed to make a permanent place for itself in our daily life and education sector. Yet, our schools, mainly government schools, are not well-equipped in terms of infrastructure facilities. The present study focuses its analysis on access and use of computers and internet facilities in schools and households of India using various data sources such as District Information System on Education (DISE) 2014-15, 2021- 22 and 71st and 75th rounds of National Sample Survey (NSS) data. This study tries to capture the spatial pattern of the use of computers in schools and households across the country. As per DISE 2014-15, only 26.4 per cent of schools in India had computers, which increased to 47.51 per cent in 2021-22. Out of this, about two-fifths of them were found non-functional. The possession of any type of computer and internet connection by households in India has also been found to be very low. In rural India, only 6 per cent of households had any type of computer, and 16 per cent had internet connections, as per 71st round of NSS data. The conditions in urban areas are better than those in rural areas. Variations were found at the level of gender and location, i.e. rural-urban. The proportion of urban males (aged 14 years and above) with the ability to use computers for various purposes is more than three times of their rural counterparts. In rural areas, the proportion of females are almost half of that of males for different types of abilities to use computers. Apart from this, regional variations have also been observed regarding the ability to use computers for various purposes.