The availability of mobile broadband networks and the rapid adoption of smartphones during the past five years have significantly impacted India’s consumers, economy, and society, writes
Education is a basic human right as identified by UNESCO but worldwide 244 million children and youth are still out of school for social, economic, and cultural reasons. Covid 19 pandemic further aggravated this with many schools and colleges shutting down. However, the pandemic has also been a catalyst for digital adoption in the education sector.
With over 250 million school-going students and 38.5 million students enrolled in higher education in 2019-20, India has one of the largest networks of higher education institutions in the world. Despite this, there are millions of children still who have no access to education. 5G with its faster speeds, low latency and higher reliability holds immense potential to transform the Indian education sector by enabling digital access to these students.
Significance of 5G connectivity
The availability of mobile broadband networks and the rapid adoption of smartphones during the past five years have significantly impacted India’s consumers, economy, and society. And the impact of connectivity has nowhere been more visible than in the field of education – the widespread availability of mobile broadband connectivity and affordable data plans allowed many schools to pivot to remote education quickly at the onset of Covid 19 pandemic. In fact, connectivity played a critical role in helping students continue their education via remote learning.
However, there are still millions who have either no or inadequate access to broadband especially in rural and remote parts of the country leading to severe disruption in learning given the school closures during the pandemic. According to a study conducted by Lenasia and Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations between March and September 2021, only 20% of school-going children enrolled in the formal education system received remote education during pandemic-related school closures. Another study found that many students having access to a learning device faced challenges with inadequate Internet speed or found Internet access costs prohibitive.
The introduction of 5G in India will create new opportunities for participation and learning. As education becomes more hybrid and digitally rich – a good reliable broadband access is critical for both students as well as teachers to ensure effective teaching. 5G will also make remote learning more interactive and enriching via introduction of immersive and interactive tools and content. Lessons imparted with augmented reality / virtual reality tools will make learning more experiential and real time. AR/VR will not only help students understand subjects better by bringing theoretical concepts to life but also be used to impart training to teachers.
5G will enable students to create media-rich content on the spot in a classroom, giving project-based learning a new meaning along with aiding teachers and institutions to offer an enhanced learning experience. With the Internet of Things (IoT) teachers will be able to automatically log in as soon as they enter the classroom; manual administrative tasks will be automated, and students would be able to share feedback digitally. Teachers will have more time to devote to each student enabling a personalized learning experience that caters to the specific needs of the students. 5G will help to improve education by enabling more individualized and flexible learning options going beyond the four walls of the classrooms.
In fact, shortly after launching 5G in India last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi stressed the importance of 5G telecom service in taking the education system in the country to the next level, much beyond smart facilities, smart classrooms, and smart teachings – ultimately contributing towards a future ready workforce. The National Education Policy will give further fillip to digital adoption.
Conclusion
Millions of Indian students in remote and rural locations will benefit from this next-gen technology which will enable digital education to proliferate much faster. According to the latest Ericsson Mobility Report, 5G subscriptions in India will represent around 53 per cent of mobile subscriptions at the end of 2028, reaching around 690 million users.
5G will make schooling more effective, bring learning to millions of students in rural and remote parts of India, and promote economic growth. It will help educators manage remote learning and discover new educational digital experiences for both teachers and students.
