44% of Schools In Rural Areas Are Digitally Equipped In Comparison To 68% Of Urban Areas

In response to the question highlighting disparities in educational and digital infrastructure, internet connectivity, and device accessibility between urban and rural schools, asked by MP Hibi Eden, the Department of School Education and Literacy has provided information on the same.

The Department of Education said that as per the UDISE+ 2021-22, the total number of schools for classes VI to XII is 553894 (48%) in rural areas and 174761 (68%) in urban areas are equipped with digital infrastructure. Out of these schools, 68305 schools have ICT Labs in rural areas and 17877 schools in urban areas. Out of the total schools with digital infra, only 15% have Smart Classrooms in rural areas and 25% schools in Urban areas. Only 2.7% are equipped with Atal Tinkering Labs in rural areas while in urban areas only 6.3% have Tinkering Labs.

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On a question about ensuring equitable digital access across rural areas, the department informed that initiatives such as PM e-VIDYA are underway which emphasize DIKSHA – the nation’s digital infrastructure for providing quality e-content for school education in States/UTs and QR-coded Energized Textbooks for all grades, DTH TV Channels to provide supplementary education in various Indian languages for classes 1-12.

The ICT and Digital Initiatives component of Samagra Shiksha covers Government and Aided Schools having classes VI to XII. Under this component financial assistance is provided for establishing ICT Lab and Smart Classrooms in schools. The non-recurring/recurring grant under ‘ICT and Digital Initiatives’ is available to the States and UTs.

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Also on the question of qualified teachers, the department responded that as per Unified District Information System for Education Plus (UDISE+), 2021 22, out of 66.63 lakh teachers in rural schools, 58.55 lakh (87.9%) are qualified teachers. Further, out of 28.43 lakh teachers in urban schools, 24.70 lakhs (86.9%) are qualified teachers.