The evidence developing on the use of EdTech provides a positive outlook on its role in providing innovative and effective ways of supporting the teaching-learning process in K12 education.
India’s National Education Policy (NEP) places particular emphasis on the importance of technology to improve educational outcomes. State governments are leading many tech-based interventions to enhance teaching-learning and promote access to and use of high-quality EdTech solutions. Supported by conducive ecosystem conditions on improved internet and smartphone penetration, demand for EdTech has grown significantly over the past three years—making EdTech one of the highest-funded and fastest-growing sectors in the country.
However, while there is a vibrant EdTech ecosystem in India, there are very few EdTech solutions catering to and scaling in low-income segments. A key reason for this gap is the absence of knowledge regarding the needs and barriers of the end-users in low-income settings. There is a lack of comprehensive, ground-up data and reliable insights on the behaviors and needs of these users, where the need for tech-based learning is perhaps the most crucial. Consequently, both policy and EdTech solutions have not been able to address the needs and aspirations of a large section of learners.
In an endeavor to bridge this information asymmetry, Central Square Foundation (CSF) has launched the first household survey – Bharat Survey for EdTech (BaSE). It aims to amplify the voice of the end-user in Bharat and provide reliable data and insights to policymakers, educators, and tech innovators for informed decision-making in the EdTech discourse.
The objectives of the survey are to explore the extent of access to technology, understand household-level beliefs and behaviors around the child’s education and look at trends around EdTech usage and adoption, and provide insights that can catalyze meaningful and informed conversations regarding emerging solutions for learning.
The findings look at three key themes: (i) access to technology, (ii) user sentiment around EdTech adoption, and (iii) EdTech usage.
The key findings of the study include:
Access to Technology
Access to technology at the household level
- Access to electricity: The households reported near-universal (99%) access to electricity across states, however, urban households (23 hours per day) had electricity access for a longer duration compared to rural households (19 hours per day).
- Ownership of smartphones: 85% of the surveyed households reported ownership of at least one smartphone, with nearly one-third of the households owning more than 1 smartphone. Urban households reported a per capita smartphone ownership of 1.5, compared to 1.3 smartphones within rural households.
- Possession of smartphones by the household members: Across the surveyed households, 66% of the fathers were the primary possessors2 of smartphones, followed by 36% of mothers and 20% of children.
- Non-possession of smartphones: Among the surveyed households that did not own a smartphone, 97% of the respondents reported the ‘cost of the device’ as the most prominent reason. It was noted that the average annual income of a family that owned a smartphone was INR 1.20 lakhs, whereas, for a family without smartphone ownership, the average annual income was INR 0.81 lakhs.
Access to technology at the child level
- Access to smartphones: 72% of all children from all the surveyed households had access to smartphones. 66% of the children had ‘shared access’ to smartphones, and 6% had ‘dedicated access’. A higher proportion of children with ‘dedicated access’ were from rural households (7%) compared to urban households (3%). Further, children in secondary grades (16%) had greater ‘dedicated access’ to smartphones compared to middle (5%) and primary (1%) grades. In households where both mothers and fathers possessed a smartphone, 86% of children used their mother’s smartphone, and 23% used their father’s smartphone.
- Non-usage of smartphones: 16% of the children in the households with smartphones were not using smartphones. A greater proportion of non-users were children from rural households and primary graders. The absence of the ‘need for smartphones’ was reported as the most prominent reason for the non-usage of smartphones by children (43%). The risk of children ‘navigating to unsafe content’ was cited more for children in secondary grades (41%) compared to primary grades (27%).
- Access to internet: Internet was reported to be accessible to nearly all children within households; however, around 50% of the children had intermittent access to the internet. This intermittent access was primarily due to the exhaustion of internet recharge, as reported by 93% of respondents.
- Time spent on smartphones: Of the children who had access to smartphones at home, more than 60% used smartphones daily. It was also found that children in secondary grades (69%) were more likely to use smartphones daily than those in primary grades (58%). Additionally, parents/guardians reported that 74% of children had more than 30 minutes of session time on smartphones on a given day, with a similar proportion of children in urban (75%) and rural (72%) households. It was also noted that children with ‘dedicated access’ spent more time on smartphones than children with ‘shared access’—62% of children with ‘dedicated access’ and 24% of children with ‘shared access’ spent more than 1 hour on the smartphone.
- Access to technology—at a gender level: 68% of girls had ‘shared access’ to smartphones compared to 64% of boys whereas 7% of boys had ‘dedicated access’ to smartphones compared to 3% of girls. A lower proportion of boys in rural areas were non-users of smartphones (15%) compared to girls (21%).
User Sentiment Around EdTech Adoption
- Sufficiency of in-school education: 33% of the households surveyed believed that in-school education was not sufficient for performing well in studies. However, regional and settlement-level variations were observed. Odisha reported the highest proportion of households that believed in-school education was insufficient (65%), whereas Telangana reported the lowest proportion (9%). Additionally, a greater proportion of households in urban areas believed that in-school education was insufficient (38%), compared to households in rural areas (32%).
- At-home learning support: 70% of children in the surveyed households received some learning support from household members. 40% of these children received support from their mothers. 23% of children who received learning support at home were supported by their fathers and 17% of children by their older sibling(s). Children in primary grades required relatively more at-home learning support (80% of children in the primary grades, compared to 70% of children in middle grades, and 52% of children in secondary grades). More than 75% of household members kept track of what was done in the child’s school and supported them in completing their homework.
- Paid private tuition: Children in urban households (47%) availed paid private tuition more than rural households (34%). This avenue of learning was availed most by children in primary grades (40% 1st-5th graders; 32% 6th-8th graders, and 38% 9th-12th graders). On average, parents/guardians spent INR 355 monthly on their child’s private tuition. Within urban households, parents/guardians spent INR 453, whereas rural households spent INR 300.
- Awareness of EdTech: Overall, 86% of the respondents reported that they were aware of technology as a medium of learning. Overall, urban households (96%) had higher awareness levels of EdTech than rural households (82%). Parents/guardians of children in secondary grades (90%) were also found to be more aware of EdTech than parents/guardians of children in primary grades (82%).
- Willingness to advocate EdTech: 67% of all the surveyed households were inclined to advocate for EdTech. Similar to awareness of EdTech, a higher proportion of urban households (79%) compared to rural households (62%) were noted to be advocates of EdTech solutions.
- Intention to purchase smartphones for learning purposes: 11% of all the household respondents stated an intention to purchase smartphones for learning purposes ‘within the next 6 months’ of the survey. The intention to purchase smartphones was higher among parents of children in secondary grades and parents/ guardians of boys. Smartphone ownership was also found to have a bearing on the intention to purchase smartphones. Those who did not own a smartphone at the time of the survey expressed a greater interest in buying one (26%) compared to those who owned a smartphone (8%).
- User sentiment around EdTech adoption—at a gender level: There were no notable differences observed in trends for the nature of educational support provided at home to girls and boys. It was observed that a greater proportion of boys (42%) availed paid private tuition compared to girls (32%).
EdTech Usage
- EdTech users: 51% of the children across surveyed households were ‘present users’ of EdTech, 41% had never used technology for learning, and 8% had discontinued using it. Urban households had a higher prevalence of ‘present users’. The secondary (72%) and middle (55%) grades had the highest proportion of ‘present users’ compared to primary grades (39%).
- Self-learning: Half the surveyed children reported self-learning through EdTech. Children in secondary grades (71%) were more likely to be self-learning through Edtech than children in primary grades (38%).
- Teacher-directed learning: About 1 in 3 children received ‘teacher-directed materials’ through digital mediums, with children in urban households (43%) more likely to have received these materials compared to children in rural households (28%).
- Tools used for EdTech: YouTube was found to be the most popular tool used for learning purposes (89%), followed by WhatsApp (62%) and Google (52%). Overall, the prevalence of low-tech tools was low, which included text messages (8%), TV (7%), and IVRS (7%).
- Subjects studied using EdTech tools: English (84%) and Mathematics (76%) were the most studied subjects using EdTech tools. Further, with increasing grades, higher usage of EdTech tools to study Science/ EVS, English, Language, Coding, and GK was reported.
- Reasons for using EdTech tools: More than half the children (53%) used EdTech because of the ‘ease of understanding of complicated topics’ enabled by EdTech tools. Other prominent reasons highlighted for the use of EdTech tools included ‘self-paced learning using EdTech’ (47%) and ‘doubt clarification’ (42%). At a state level, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh found ‘availability of vernacular content’ most helpful (Gujarat 95%, Madhya Pradesh 59%) compared to Odisha (12%), Uttar Pradesh (8%), Telangana (5%), and Mizoram (0.3%).
- Features appreciated on EdTech tools: ‘Speed of learning’ enabled by EdTech tools was a feature that was most appreciated by the ‘present users’ of EdTech (54%). The other prominent features appreciated were ‘explanation of wrong answers or topics that a child does not understand’ (43%), ‘curriculum alignment to school’ (37%), and availability of ‘vernacular content’ (32%).
- Reasons for non-usage of EdTech: Among children who were currently not using technology for learning, 61% of them cited ‘schools reopening’ after the lockdown as the most prominent reason, with rural households having cited it more (62%) compared to urban households (56%). 30% of respondents cited the availability of other learning avenues (such as tuition) as the reason for not using technology for learning. Urban respondents cited this more (47%) compared to rural respondents (24%).
- Association of parent’s behavior and child’s EdTech usage: Of the children whose parents/guardians could use at least one of the three tools (Facebook/YouTube/Google), more than 60% of the children were ‘present users.’ Whereas, of the children whose parents/guardians did not know how to use any of the three tools, 26% were ‘present users.’ Moreover, EdTech usage was also found to be associated with awareness levels of EdTech amongst parents/guardians and their willingness to advocate EdTech, with 59% and 67% of children of such households, respectively, being present users.
- EdTech usage—at a gender level: No notable differences were observed between genders across present, discontinued, and non-user of EdTech. However, in urban areas, a greater proportion of girls (67%) than boys (45%) were likely to use EdTech for self-learning. In rural areas, a greater proportion of boys (50%) than girls (45%) were likely to use EdTech for self-learning.
The survey was undertaken between November 2022 and January 2023, with parents and guardians of children attending government schools and affordable private schools. It covered 6030 households, involving 9867 children, across 6 diverse states of India – Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram, Odisha, Telangana, and Uttar Pradesh.
The survey findings will serve as a common frame of reference for stakeholders to converge on the agenda of leveraging technology to improve the quality of education for all.
