Only 25% Of Govt Schools Have Internet Connectivity: Union Minister

Only 25 per cent of government schools in the nation have internet access, according to Dharmendra Pradhan, the minister of education.

The information was made public in answer to a query raised in the Lok Sabha about the use of ICT in school education in government and government-aided schools during emergencies such as the Covid-19 pandemic under the New Education Policy.

The information came from the Unified District Information System for Education Plus, a database created by the education administration for the school year 2021-22.

According to Pradhan, only 2,47,000 of the country's 10,22,386 government schools had internet access.

States with the least amount of internet connectivity

Internet connectivity is less than 10 per cent of the total number of schools in at least five states across the nation.

Only 12,074 of Uttar Pradesh's 1.37 lakh institutions have internet access. In Bihar, 4,421 of the 75,558 schools have internet connectivity. In Odisha, internet access is available in 3,970 of the 49,072 institutions. Only 153 of Mizoram's 2563 government schools provide internet connectivity to their students. Only 4,680 of Assam's total 45,490 government schools have internet connectivity.

States with complete internet connectivity

States with 100 per cent internet connectivity in all government schools included Delhi (2762), Chandigarh (123) and Puducherry (422).

Lakshadweep came in second, with 37 of the 38 schools having an internet link. Meanwhile, Kerala fared well, with 4,738 of 5,010 government schools having internet connectivity.