As the coronavirus started thriving in the world, demands for internet connection elevated. And with no cure in sight, people all over the world then relied on their electronics not only for a new means of educational learning but also for the economic and government ecosystem. But what about countries with low internet capabilities? Our country recorded the highest percentage in spending more time on social media: 64 percent of internet users from ages 16 to 64, with this a 15 percent slowdown of internet speed from February to March 2020 took place. This could only get worse.

The huge disparity between those who have access to the internet and those who do not only became more evident. None of this new; we have been aware of this digital divide even before COVID-19. What is the digital divide? The digital divide is a socio-economic term that refers to unequal access to information and technology. This technological gap occurs across countries that do not have that much privilege to use gadgets like smartphones, tablets, and personal computers. And yet with the absence of a strong internet connection adding to the conflict, many workers, learners, and citizens have been excluded and left behind. If anything, the pandemic only more brought this to light: we will be dependent on one factor we cannot control: internet connection.

It is undeniable that this global contagion mostly affected education as we shifted into the “new normal”. Distance learning options were proposed including online platforms, offline modules, or a combination of the two called blended or flexible learning. However, with these options, distance learning still has inequities, especially around the digital divide more apparent than ever before. It’s bad news for a country where “there was an education crisis even before [the pandemic],” said Isy Faingold, chief of education at UNICEF Philippines. A DepEd survey shows that, of the 6.5 million students who have access to the internet, approximately 20 percent use computer shops or other public places to go online. And worse, 2.8 million students have no way of going online at all. It is worrisome as millions of students struggle to continue virtual education with limited digital resources in these times. Senate President Pro-Tempore Ralph Recto also stated that 93.6 billion pages had to be printed so that millions of students could have hand-outs for at least eight subjects. “That’s about 1,500 times the 61 million ballots we printed in the last election. That’s enough paper to gift-wrap all the classrooms in the land”. Assuming a cost of one Philippines Peso (PHP) per page, the mass printing would require a budget of PHP 93.6 billion (USD 1.9 billion) and a shortfall of PHP 35 billion (USD 721 million) in the department’s budget.

It is visible that everyone is affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the impacts are greater felt in communities where privilege does not extend. The majority of them are being denied opportunities to experience quality education and were not well-equipped to have computers, internet connections, and devices for virtual learning and workspaces. This pandemic has brought our educational sector to the fore, but it should not pull us backward in pursuit of a digitally inclusive and sustainable community. It should serve as a wake-up call to various institutions to redouble their efforts and take up affirmative actions in bridging the gap of the digital divide.

Sources:

https://cnnphilippines.com/life/culture/2020/5/20/internet-access-pandemic.html

https://eu.boell.org/en/2020/10/06/philippines-distance-learning-reveals-digital-divide

https://philippines.makesense.org/2020/07/21/bridging-digital-divide-in-the-time-of-covid-19-pandemic/