Only 57% teens use smartphones for study: ASER

MORE than 82% of children aged 14-16 in India know how to use smartphones, but only 57% of them use them for educational purposes whereas 76% use the device for accessing social media, according to the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) 2024 released on Tuesday.

- IFRAH MUFTI

This time, the surveyors reached out to 6,49,491 children in 17,997 villages. The Pratham Education Foundation, which facilitated the survey, said, "This was the first time ASER included a section on digital literacy focusing on children in the 14-16 age group."

Almost 90% of surveyed girls and boys reported having a smartphone at home, and 82.2% reported knowing how to use a smartphone (85.5% of boys and 79.4% of girls). When it comes to ownership, there is a larger gap—36.2% boys compared to 26.9% girls reported owning their own smartphone, the report said.