October 21, 2021

In ‘Why digital poverty deserves greater attention’ (The Straits Times, 2021), Associate Professor Irene Y.H. Ng (NUS Department of Social Work), Professor Lim Sun Sun (SUTD Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences Cluster), and Dr Natalie Pang (NUS Department of Communications and New Media) explain how inadequate access to digital devices and connectivity among lower-income households contributes to a deepening social divide over time.

During the 2020 circuit breaker, Singaporeans had to switch to working from home and home-based learning (HBL). While most students had ample resources to engage in online learning, those in low-income households struggled as many did not own computers, did not have enough devices to go around in the family, or lacked Wi-Fi. Even after efforts to provide digital devices to needy households through donations and loans, a survey last year found that out of 573 households with children, 21 percent did not have internet access, and 39 percent did not have laptops, desktops, or tablets.

The team’s research revealed that those from lower-income households were not aware of the digital support programmes that could aid them, and some did not meet the stringent criteria of these schemes – such as their households needing to be limited to one laptop. The complicated application process also turned many away, especially since the schemes were offered mainly through schools, leading to embarrassment in admitting that they needed help in front of their peers. Moreover, due to digital illiteracy and financial constraints, many low-income households chose to be mobile-first or mobile-only.

Although the Ministry of Education (MOE) has provided every secondary school student with a learning device, by tapping on students’ Edusave accounts and subsidising those under the MOE Financial Assistance Scheme, digital resources have become a necessity for not just secondary school students, but primary school pupils and adult learners as well. With devices having become a basic necessity, the research team added that digital education to safeguard people against cyber risks also needs to be ramped up.

Read the article here.