“The Digital Gap is More like a Digital Canyon “

We mentioned in a recent blog post that two thirds of the world’s school-age children have no internet access at home. 

These numbers have been reinforced again taken from a new joint report from UNICEF and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).

UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore is stating the digital gap should be taken very seriously.

“That so many children and young people have no internet at home is more than a digital gap –it is a digital canyon. Lack of connectivity doesn’t just limit children and young people’s ability to connect online. It prevents them from competing in the modern economy. It isolates them from the world. And in the event of school closures, such as those currently experienced by millions due to COVID-19, it causes them to lose out on education. Put bluntly: Lack of internet access is costing the next generation their futures”

The report is showing alarming numbers in the amount of connected school-aged children, especially from low-income countries.

The report clearly shows that the digital divide or “Canyon” as the UNICEF Director is calling the current situation is perpetuating inequalities that already divide countries and communities.

Children and young people from the poorest households, rural and lower income states are falling even further behind their peers and are left with very little opportunity to ever catch up.

ITU Secretary-General Houlin Zhao also commented on the report meaning that connecting rural populations remains a “formidable challenge”.

“As shown by ITU’s Measuring digital development: Facts and figures 2020, large parts of rural areas are not covered with a mobile-broadband network, and fewer rural households have access to the internet. The gap in the mobile broadband adoption and internet use between developed and developing countries is especially large, putting the almost 1.3 billion school-age children mostly from low-income countries and rural regions at risk of missing out on their education because they lack access to the internet at home.” 

Last year, UNICEF and ITU launched Giga, a global initiative to connect more school children. 

The initiative is now collaborating with Reimagine Education to address the learning crisis and transform education by giving children and young people equal access to quality digital learning. A key to achieving this is universal internet connectivity.

To view theunconnected.orgs projects to connect students click here.

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