Kaafi Real: Not All Kids Get a Piece of the Digital Education Pie

Only 8.5 percent students in India have access to the internet.

(Illustration by Aroop Mishra/The Quint)

When schools shut down due to the coronavirus pandemic exactly one year ago – the gap in access to education widened. According to a report released by the United Nations Children Emergency Fund (UNICEF), only 8.5 percent students in India have access to the Internet.

(Illustration by Aroop Mishra/The Quint)

This has left millions of kids in India out of the formal education system. Among the south Asian countries, Internet is available to 74.6 percent students in Sri Lanka, 69.7 percent students in Bangladesh, 36.6 percent in Nepal, 9.1 percent in Pakistan and 0.9 percent in Afghanistan.

The COVID-19 pandemic-induced lockdowns impacted 201 million students worldwide – with 170 million having no access to education.