IT and Education in the Third World

I was fortunate to listen to a talk by Rajesh Reddy on how to exploit information technology to improve the lives of people in third world countries. Rajesh is a recipient of the Turing Prize, probably the most prestigious award in the field of computing.

What interested me the most was his discussion on the "digital divide" and his experience in using IT to uplift the educational standard in rural India. I could easily relate to his talk as I came from the Philippines where the same conditions exist. Indeed, access to IT boils down to the "haves and have nots" issue.

Obviously, the rich can easily afford computers and other things such as Internet subscription while the poor struggles to have three meals a day. One may ask therefore: Is it morally correct to spend money on information technology instead of food or other basic necessities? This question becomes more imperative given the limited monetary resources of poor countries.

This question is difficult to answer than one might think. We could easily say that the government must prioritize expenditure on basic necessities and leave IT to the private sector. But this answer is myopic. For one, as the world increasingly becomes dependent on information and communications technology, future jobs will require higher levels of IT literacy and skills. If the government does not spend on IT literacy for the poor, they will be highly disadvantaged in the near future.

Another area where IT is becoming increasingly important is education. Private schools are using computers from elementary school levels to complement traditional teaching methods. Again, if the government does not spend on computers for public schools, students from public schools will lose from their counterparts from private schools.

Information technology is indeed important. It is imperative for the government to keep the digital divide narrow by spending on IT especially for the poor.