Digital Gap: Widening Social and Economic Splits
Unequal tech access deepens social and economic gaps, limiting education and job chances for many globally. This affects personal growth and national progress.
Topics: technology, politics, individual and values
Example
In August 2020, UNICEF estimated that at least 463 million schoolchildren, about one in three worldwide, could not be reached by remote learning when COVID-19 closed their schools, mainly because they lacked internet access, devices, or TV and radio broadcasts. In sub-Saharan Africa, about half of all students could not be reached, and the largest number in absolute terms, at least 147 million, was in South Asia.
Key facts
- In August 2020 UNICEF estimated that at least 463 million schoolchildren, about a third, could not access remote learning during school closures.
- About half of students in sub-Saharan Africa, and at least 147 million children in South Asia, could not be reached.
Limitations
- The figure is a model estimate of who could not be reached based on household access to technology; it does not measure how much learning each child actually lost.
Evaluations
technology evaluation
Support
When schools closed, technology became the only route to class, so children without devices or internet were cut off completely.
Counterargument
UNICEF counted radio and TV as remote learning too, so lack of internet was not the only barrier; some children were reached through broadcasts.
Rebuttal
Even counting broadcasts, a third of children were unreachable, which shows the divide includes basic electricity and media access, not just broadband.
Additional support
Singapore lent laptops and dongles to students during its 2020 home-based learning, an example of a government closing the gap quickly.
politics evaluation
Support
The figures show that school closures, a public health decision, hit poor countries' children hardest, raising the question of whether policies were planned with them in mind.
Counterargument
Governments had little choice in early 2020; keeping schools open risked spreading the virus to families.
Rebuttal
The lesson is not that closures were wrong, but that education systems need remote-learning plans and access before a crisis comes.
Additional support
UNICEF and the ITU launched the Giga initiative to connect every school to the internet, a policy response to the gap the pandemic exposed.
individual and values evaluation
Support
Children who were cut off fell behind through no fault of their own, which shows how unequal access turns into unequal life chances.
Counterargument
Families with low access still found ways to learn, such as shared phones and printed worksheets, so the picture was not wholly bleak.
Rebuttal
Family effort helped but could not replace teaching; studies of learning loss found poorer children lost the most.
Additional support
Girls in poorer households were more likely to be given chores during closures, so the divide also widened gender gaps in some places.
Sources
- UNICEF (2020-08-27): COVID-19: At least a third of the world's schoolchildren unable to access remote learning during school closures
More GP guides for this example
Topic guides
- Society and Culture GP Examples
- Politics and Governance GP Examples
- Science and Technology GP Examples