Over 82% of children in the 14-16 age group know how to use a smartphone, but only 57% children in the said age group use it for educational purposes, while 76% of them use the device for accessing social media, according to the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) released on Tuesday, January 28.

Interestingly, boys and girls were equally likely to use smartphones for education, but boys (78.8%) were more likely than girls (73.4%) to use them for social media. Kerala stood out, with over 80% of children using smartphones for education and over 90% for social media, reflecting the state’s high digital literacy levels.

The survey, conducted by the NGO Pratham, based on a survey of over 6.4 lakh children across 605 rural districts in India, sheds light on the increasing penetration of digital tools in rural households.

For the first time, ASER included a section on digital literacy specifically for children aged 14-16. This section featured self-reported questions on access, ownership, and usage of smartphones, alongside a one-on-one assessment of basic digital skills.

Access to Smartphones

Access to smartphones is near-universal, with nearly 90% of children in the 14-16 age group reporting that they have a smartphone at home. However, only 82.2% of these children know how to use one, with a notable gap between boys (85.5%) and girls (79.4%). States like Bihar, Jharkhand, and Madhya Pradesh lag behind in both access and usability.

The ASER data also highlighted the rapid growth in smartphone availability in rural India. In 2018, 36% of rural households had smartphones, which increased to 74% in 2022 and now stands at 84%. Correspondingly, the proportion of children aged 14-16 owning a smartphone rose from 19% in 2022 to 31% this year.

Smartphone Ownership

While ownership is low in this age group, it increases with age. As per the report, boys continue to dominate ownership statistics. “Of the children who could use a smartphone, 27% of 14-year-olds and 37.8% of 16-year-olds reported having their own phone. Moreover, there is a large gender gap in smartphone ownership — 36.2% of boys as compared to 26.9% of girls reported owning their own smartphone. This gender gap is seen across all states,” the report said.

Usage Patterns

Smartphone usage varies significantly between educational and social activities. While 57% of children reported using smartphones for educational purposes, 76% used them for social media. Boys were more likely to access social media (78.8%) compared to girls (73.4%). In Kerala, over 80% of children reported using smartphones for educational activities, while more than 90% used them for social media.

Digital Safety Awareness

The report also assessed awareness of basic online safety measures among children who used social media. Encouragingly, 62% knew how to block or report a profile, 55.2% knew how to make a profile private, and 57.7% knew how to change a password. However, boys consistently demonstrated higher awareness of these features than girls.

Digital Skills Assessment

On the day of the survey, 70.2% of boys and 62.2% of girls brought a smartphone (their own or borrowed) to complete assigned digital tasks. These tasks included setting an alarm, browsing for specific information, and locating and sharing a YouTube video.

More than three-quarters of children successfully completed these tasks, with over 90% of those who located a YouTube video managing to share it via a messaging platform. However, gender disparities persisted, with boys outperforming girls in every task. The widest gap was in setting an alarm, with 81.5% of boys succeeding compared to 72.4% of girls.

Interestingly, in southern states like Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh, girls either matched or outperformed boys in these digital skills, showcasing regional progress in bridging the gender gap.

According to the report, in 2018, nearly 90% of rural households had simple mobile phones and 36% had smartphones. In 2022, the households with smartphones had risen to more than 74% and this year, it has grown to 84%. While the percentage of children who have access to a smartphone at home is nearing saturation, the proportion of children aged 14-16 who own a smartphone has risen from 19% to about 31% within a year.

“The main use of smartphones during the pandemic period was that of a carrier of texts, worksheets and videos, which substituted for textbooks. Virtual training sessions had become common too. As the pandemic faded away, the digital skills learned during the period sustained, although some of the practices became less important and a new excitement began to build around artificial intelligence,” the report said.