#contest: digital access.
Scrolling through the internet, a reader might come across a debate on ethics of ChatGpt and AI. In the same spatio-temporal location, the same reader also might come across a report on digital divide or a contest about the importance of access to the internet for the students.
This situation is an absurd case, this absurdity reflects the disparity in access and owning of resources, including the internet and e-resource. The gap exists in various forms, to name some, gender-divide, caste-divide, rural-urban divide, political ‘situationship'(as in Kashmir).
John Dewey writes, “Education is a social process; education is growth; education is not preparation for life but is life itself.”
The youth of any community is like a bridge between ancestral history, memory, trauma, and the futuristic advancement happening in the world around him. The Internet can be very instrumental in decentering the narrative, building a non-homogenous episteme via the nuanced intervention by the youth. In this essay, we will examine a few roles of the internet which make it relevant for students due to multifold reasons.
I would like to put forth some interactions as cases that I had while reporting a story in Nawada district, Bihar to draw a background for my arguments, and speculations.
1.”Mobile duu minute ke liye milta hai” :
While collecting data from a government school in Harla village, I got a chance to speak to a class of students who were officially in standard 6th. A boy named Dipu(changed name) told me that he worked in the fields for at least 4 hours a day since it was the season to plant rice saplings. Exhausted, he craves for some entertainment, he watches bhojpuri songs for the 10-15 minutes.
One of his relatives has an Android phone who doesn’t mind letting him use it for a few minutes. The teacher interrupted the conversation, “They only have to waste time. Phones spoil these children”. Dipu replies, “Sir, mobile duu minute ke liye milta hai, utna derr mein kya maza hoga.”
2. One android in a family of 5 students.
The part of the village where people of the Musahar community (a Schedule Caste) is named Musahar basti by the locals. Mr Rakesh(changed name) lives in the musahar basti. His elder brother works in a brick kiln, he is out of the town for more than half the year. The household comprises him, his mother, his wife, his two children, his brother’s three children, brother’s wife. S
tudents of this house range from standard 1st to standard 7th. They have one non-android phone to talk to the member living miles away. Mr Rakesh was out of employment at the time.
3. “Hamko mera hone wala pati diya hai phone”.
Reema(changed name)is 18-19 years old. She belongs to an OBC family. Father and the two brothers have been working as carpenters in Hyderabad since last many years. The younger brother (15 years) has recently purchased an Android phone with the money he makes. Whenever home, he proudly flaunts the phone in front of his friends. They circle him like bees.
Reema, on the other hand, has no personal phone. She is currently enrolled in a Higher Secondary school. To support her own small expenses and savings, Reema stitches blouses, salwaar for the neighborhood women. In 2022, her marriage got fixed.
Reema was given an Android phone by her to-be-husband, “Didi, wo kahe ki isse ham ko call karna.”
Earlier, her family, whenever they saw Reema chatting with the neighbourhood girls, would hurl abuses at her, and call her lazy. Now, they have no objection to Reema owning this phone and making calls.
4. Reema hopes not to give up stitching when at her in-laws’ house.
Taking these three cases, I will examine why access to the Internet can be a life-changing point for many who are at the receiving ends of the Internet divide.
It is often difficult for human beings to get accustomed to something new introduced to them in such a way that it does them good. The idea of good is different and contextual, for a student like Dipu, the idea of good also includes some leisure time. Having said that, his teacher wants him to spend more time on the phone studying. However, a child of his age, in his situation who gets a phone for a few minutes will not necessarily take to studying. He can only strike a study-leisure balance if the internet is not an accidental blessing for him, a blessing bestowed upon him by a relative occasionally. Having internet access as a basic need can give him time and space to be more aware about its usage. Taking a moral high ground of ‘ethical equals being productive by studying’ in a situation like that of Dipu’s will only make things difficult for him.
Do we not explore our taste palette only once when we are in a position to be able to afford habitual food as one of the basic necessities! Same goes with Dipu’s relationship with the internet.
Bihar government launched ‘E-lot’ app during lockdown for helping the students with access to study material. However, in houses like that of Mr. Rakesh, ‘E-lot’ comes as just another scheme that is good for only the sake of government PR. A proper training in the field of digital literacy, ensuring a device to run internet on, proper internet connection, electricity, an income that will ensure internet recharge or a community center for internet usage that won’t discriminate against his children, more of such series of disparity must be addressed and overcome to finally arrive at a point where children of Mr. Rakesh will be able to access the internet.
In this discussion, activities and idea of what/how a Student must be should not be restricted either. The premium colleges, educational institutions have ECA quota admissions, varios clubs and cultural societies, this proves the point that while talking about access to Internet in context to the less-privilged students, it should be made a basic need and not a reward.
Reema was very thrilled when she saw in my phone, a reel of a woman hoolahooping in Saree. This was before she had a phone of her own. She was curious to surf some mehendi styles as well. Students like Reema who are also interested in activities not solely centered around hard core bookish text, arts, of multidisciplinary temperament can find ocean of surprises, DIYs, and even an audience base to exhibit their work via internet. Reema if had the access could have had an instagram account like of ‘sonali_mehendi’ and a chance to fund herself, postpone marriage and desire more than what the immediate world around her has, permits her to.
In conclusion, internet and the World wide web like a love letter opens up new realms for an individual, which any student can make use of in their own respective contexts. The right to be able to explore must not be limited only a few. While there are apps and collectives working with a focus to suit the need of the underprivileged, the government needs to do a lot, structurally, to ensure their success rate.