Digital Infrastructure – The Need to Overcome Digital Divide and Inequality in Higher Education

Abstract

Coronavirus affected millions of people worldwide. India was no exception with huge loss of lives. Life was not normal for everyone. The absence of requisite learning skills in around 825 million children and gaps in access to education were further highlighted by pandemic (World Economic Forum, 2021). When Covid hit, academics had no clue of how to manage education. While educational institutions in Chennai were getting ready for online education, this qualitative study was undertaken to identify the availability of Digital Infrastructure among students for Education. Purposive sampling method was adopted for the study. A survey questionnaire was used for data collection from students online and 681 samples were collected for the study. Data analysis on the availability of infrastructure with the students for online academics revealed that the majority of the students (60) reported that they used smart phones for online education. More than half of the students (51%) had only average and poor broadband or internet connectivity. Nearly fifty percent of the students (48.9%) reported to have affordability for only 1 GB internet data per day. Findings revealed the digital divide and inequality in higher education.