Bridging the Digital Divide in Education in India : Problems and Prospects
Saksham Mahajan · Contemporary Social Sciences · 2022
Digital divide', a multi-dimensional concept, is widely debated and researched globally, particularly during COVID-19 in context of online education for its economic, social and political consequences in the respective societies.Empirical studies have revealed that the existing gap between haves and haves-not in respect to access to ICTs and digital devices has led to exclusion, endangering social integration and hampering economic growth at global, regional and national levels.There exist multiple divides between men and women (gender), young and elderly (age grades), rich and poor (economic strata or classes), rural and urban (community background), lower and higher social strata (ethnic and caste categories), tribal and non-tribal, and most importantly between educated and non-educated ones at national level.The present paper is an attempt to explore the problem of digital divide in general and particularly with reference to online education during corona virus pandemic, to find out its causes and consequences as well as measures helpful in bridging digital divide.It has been revealed that there are