PESHAWAR
On International Women’s Day 2023, Pakistan Education Champions Network calls upon the authorities for empowering girls through technology for learning and better career prospects in Pakistan.
According to a recent study by Malala Fund, both girls and boys have struggled to access and/or use government-provided forms of learning during the lockdown in the last few years. However, girls were found to be overcoming odds to spend time studying due to social pressures around how they spent their time and lower access to some forms of technology than boys.
During the pandemic, the government’s support for distance learning mainly relied on TV, radio and e-learning, but these methods did not seem to be reaching students.
The study revealed that although the majority of respondents (67%) said they had a TV at home and around one-third had a radio, only 20% of girls and boys were spending time on educational TV, and just 2% on educational radio.
Furthermore, access to smartphones was relatively high (60%), but three-quarters of those with access reported only being able to afford data intermittently. Fewer girls (59%) than boys (68%) reported being able to access smartphones, with girls being almost 40% more likely than boys to say that they never have access to a mobile device, and their most frequently cited reason for not accessing a phone was being afraid to ask. Shockingly, less than 1% of students were using ed tech for distance learning.
The findings of the study suggest that potential gender disparities in digital access, including at home, should be considered when designing EdTech interventions.
Acknowledging system-level factors such as social norms, online discrimination or violence that can influence the extent to which girls are allowed to use EdTech is also important to implement equitable EdTech.
Tackling inequalities and disparities in digital literacy, which girls are often more likely to have lower levels of than their male counterparts, is also needed to enable girls and boys to equally make use of EdTech. Finally, issues related to promoting gender bias, discrimination, and misrepresentation can emerge in teaching practices.
The integration of technology in schools, therefore, has become one of the many important factors to make schools effective. As the digitization of economies expands, economic and social growth will increasingly depend upon people’s ability to use technology. While some jobs require advanced digital skills, most jobs and daily activities need basic digital literacy to engage with a digital economy.
Digital adoption and use can offer women, and girls in particular, opportunities to overcome hurdles they may face in the physical world. Digital access can empower women and girls, help expand their sense of self in the world, increase civic engagement, and raise awareness of their rights.
Qamar Naseem Co-Convener of the Pakistan Education Champion Network said “On this International Women’s Day, let us commit to empowering girls through technology in Pakistan.
Let us ensure that our interventions are participatory, aligned with local and contextualized needs, and inclusive. Let us work towards a Pakistan where girls have equal access to technology and can harness it to unlock their full potential.”
