Literacy for Human-centred Recovery:
Narrowing the Digital Divide
World Computer Literacy Day is observed every year on 2 December. It is to celebrate the role played by computers in society and their importance in today’s world, launched by NIIT to mark its 20th anniversary in 2001. It is about teaching information technology and a celebration of computers. The focus is to encourage the development of IT skills, particularly among children. It is no exaggeration if one says that the computer is the lifeline of human existence. Life can stand a standstill if access to a computer and network is unavailable. Almost all workplaces and businesses have embraced computers in one way or another. Naturally, enabling people to use computers and access information technologies makes sense. A computer-literate country with proper access to the internet is a step towards development. Bridging the gap between the technologically backward and technologically developed nations is the need of the present. Motivating and incentivising people to use communication and information technology fully is necessary. Computer literacy is as critical as being literate. It will help people be more successful in their careers. As somebody said, “Computers are incredibly fast, accurate, and stupid. Human beings are incredibly slow, inaccurate, and brilliant. Together, they are powerful beyond imagination”. To realise it, becoming computer literate is the starting point.
World Computer Literacy Day is observed every year on 2 December. It is to celebrate the role played by computers in society and their importance in today’s world. Interestingly it was launched by an Indian computer company, the National Institute of Information Technology (NIIT), to mark its 20th anniversary in 2001. It is about teaching information technology and a celebration of computers. The focus is to encourage the development of IT skills, particularly among children.
It is no exaggeration if one says that the computer is the lifeline of human existence. Life can stand a standstill if access to a computer and network is unavailable. Almost all workplaces and businesses have embraced computers in one way or another. Naturally, enabling people to use computers and access information technologies makes sense. Being computer literate makes access to employment opportunities easier. Computer literacy refers to the ability to run and navigate applications. It does not imply the ability to program. Digital literacy is finding information and communicating in today’s world. Wikipedia traces the term “computer literacy” to Arthur Luehrmann, an advocate of computers in teaching. Computer literacy is essential to realise the UN Sustainable Development Goal of “relevant skills, including technical and vocational skills, for employment, decent jobs and entrepreneurship”.
More than 60% of the world’s population uses the internet. China, India and US are the top three countries using the internet. There is a disparity in the usage of the internet across the globe. More than 90% of the US population uses the internet, and it drops down to 50% when it comes to the Asian population. Only one in three school children has internet access at home worldwide. Place of residence and socioeconomic status strongly influence access to the internet at home. The divide becomes more pronounced when you look at the rural population. The irony is that we may have a better percentage of digitally literate people (using the mobile phone) than those traditionally literate.
The Indian government is making appreciable efforts to enhance computer literacy. Schemes like National Digital Literacy Mission aim at imparting IT training to lakhs of people. It targets Anganwadi and ASHA workers to enable them to participate in the democratic and developmental process. It leads to enhancing their quality of life.
Technology is developing rapidly. Technological developments have brought about significant changes in various areas of our life. Education is one field that can bring in a revolution on a big scale if digital literacy is scaled up. We have a generation where most work is done by or on computers. Carrying computers wherever you go has become the order of the day. A computer-literate country with proper access to the internet is a step towards development. Bridging the gap between the technologically backward and technologically developed nations is the need of the present. Motivating and incentivising people to use communication and information technology fully is necessary.
Few things about NIIT, which took the initiative of starting the observation of computer literacy day. Set up in1981 by Indian entrepreneurs to help that time IT industry in its nascent stage to overcome the human resource challenges in the IT domain. Organisations refer to it as the “McDonald’s of the software business”. The company grew and diversified into skill development and computer skill education. They also started a university (NIIT University in Rajasthan). With growth comes the possibility of being acquired. Since 2020 it has been operating under the name COFORGE
Development plays a crucial role in our lives. Growth is what one looks forward to, both personal and global. It has many connotations: removing hunger, eradicating poverty, enhancing the quality of life, and removing discrimination or gender equality. There is a clear connection between illiteracy, poverty, and prejudice against women. Society well prepared to adopt IT and able to use it makes significant progress in ensuring progress. It is a fact that information and communication technologies present new opportunities and challenges. There is an urgent need to address the significant impediments developing countries face in accessing the latest technologies. Closing the Digital Gap is a need of time. Computer literacy is as critical as being literate. Making sure that everyone has at least some degree of computer literacy is essential for the future of society. It will help people be more successful in their careers. “World Computer Literacy Day” is meant to celebrate computers and create awareness amongst the people.
We need to understand that if we all work on inclusion together, it’s going to be faster, broader, better, and more thorough than anything we can do on our own
Bill Gates
As somebody said, “Computers are incredibly fast, accurate, and stupid. Human beings are incredibly slow, inaccurate, and brilliant. Together, they are powerful beyond imagination”. To realise it, becoming computer literate is the starting point.
Toon: Reema
Logs: M Sai Baba
