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Indus OS is gifting 25 smartphones to 25 students who can’t afford them through its online Christmas campaign #IndusOSGiftOfLove.
Have you ever considered how great the digital chasm is in India? Consider these numbers: India is the second-largest online market in the world with 560 million internet users[1], and at the same time, India has the most number of people who don’t have access to the internet[2]. These stats are probably having you scratching your head.
If you’re an internet user (which you probably are since you’re reading this), the thought of slow internet would leave you shuddering, let alone a complete absence of internet.
The lack of internet and a device to access it can exacerbate the problems of many. Especially students. The pandemic has not been kind to students who don’t have internet access.
What Happens to Students who can’t Access the Internet?
According to a study conducted by the Azim Premji Foundation, 60% of students can’t access online learning due to the lack of digital connectivity[3]. That’s a whopping 150 million students out of the 250 million in India[4].
What is the net effect of this scarcity? School dropouts. A similar study conducted by ICRIER and LIRNEAsia revealed that 38% of Indian households reported at least one student dropping out of school due to a lack of online learning opportunities caused by digital scarcity[5].
What this worrying statistic indicates is that the next generation is denied the chance to grow through education. Students are unable to utilize the vast potential that the internet offers. Services like e-learning, online classes, miscellaneous online courses, etc. are out of reach for these students.
Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru once said, “The children of today will make the India of tomorrow. The way we bring them up will determine the future of the country.”
If the children of today can’t learn, what will happen tomorrow?
What Indus OS Wants to Do
How could one possibly bridge the gap of the great digital divide in India? The task seems insurmountable yet we do what is within our power. As the fictional wizard, Gandalf is known to have said, “All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us”.
Thus, Indus OS as an organization is playing its part in closing the gap of this veritable chasm by assisting Indians into the digital ecosystem.
And with Christmas around the corner, the timing couldn’t have been better.
The Christmas Plan
The plan this Christmas is to gift 25 smartphones to 25 students who can’t afford them. The heart behind our campaign is to provide these 25 students with a chance to access online learning, e-classes, and opportunities to further their education.
With the hashtag #IndusOSGiftOfLove, we are seeking the help of our community to reach out to any such student.
If you do know someone like this, fill out this form and we’ll get in touch with you.
The Digital Onboarding of All
All eyes are on India, as tech giants seek to tap into the vast potential of the Indian market. But it’s not easy. India is a diverse country and the way to reach more users is by building products that get the Indian people.
For more than a decade, Indus OS has been playing a vital role in reaching users through highly personalized and localized content through the Indus App Bazaar that hosts over 400k apps in 12 Indian languages and English. Our recent milestone of 200 million users and 2.5 billion downloads is a testament to the efforts put in by everyone.
The work continues, and this Christmas may be the start of something grand.
To keep up to date with our Christmas campaign and discover the eventual winners follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook
Catch up on all our previous blog posts by clicking here.
Sources:
[1] Internet usage in India – statistics & facts | Statista
[2] These are the countries where internet access is lowest
[3] 60% students do not have internet access in India: Report – Education Today News
[4] India: number of enrolled students by school type | Statista
[5] Remote education was inaccessible to most children, says survey – The Hindu
