Due to the pandemic, education has gone online. We need to act now to ensure that girls do not drop out because of a lack of resources. Our research shows that boys in a family are given preference to use smartphones to continue their education, compared to girls. There is an urgent need to provide smartphones to girls to cope with online classes and stay in schools. iPartner India will provide phones and internet to 100 resource-poor girls for their school education and other technical courses.
Due to the pandemic, schools have been shut over months and the education system is forced to operate online until the pandemic stays. According to The Mobile Gender Gap Report 2020, only half of the women in India use mobile internet compared to men-21% among women compared to 42% of men. This evidence is particularly troubling, demonstrating how lack of access to gadgets and technology have forced many girls to drop out from studies. The gender digital divide is more widened in rural areas.
iPartner India has shortlisted 100 vulnerable and resource-poor girls who are on the verge of dropping out of studies. With your support, we will procure 100 mobile phones and internet connections for the girls, who will not just use them for their academic sessions but also other technical courses such as computer coding, English speaking, and typing courses with the help of our technical partner. For optimum use, post completion of one training the phones will be passed on to further batches.
100 girls would benefit through phones and internet connection to attend their online classes. The digital literacy skills of the girls would improve which will increase economic opportunities for them. Drop out of girls from studies would be prevented. Girls will not be forced to get married before they are adults.
