Government Schools Internet Connectivity: With connectivity gains, government schools narrow digital divide | India News

NEW DELHI: Government schools have made the sharpest gains in internet connectivity over three years, increasing coverage from 46.2% in 2023-24 to 63.1% in 2025-26 and narrowing their gap with aided and private schools from about 28 percentage points to around 16. Their share of functional smart classrooms also rose from 21.2% to 32.2%, though it remains below aided schools at 41% and private unaided schools at 39.9%.The latest UDISE+ report shows 67.4% of schools had internet facilities, up from 63.5% in 2024-25 and 53.9% in 2023-24, and that all schools in Goa have internet coverage while West Bengal lags at 19.7% in 2025-26.Excluding UTs, Andhra Pradesh followed Goa at 99.2% coverage, ahead of Tamil Nadu at 99%, Gujarat at 96.8% and Kerala at 92.6%. At the bottom, Bengal was followed by Arunachal Pradesh at 36%, Meghalaya at 36.4%, Manipur at 38.8% and Tripura at 42.5%.Goa rose from 87.6% in 2023-24 to full coverage and Andhra Pradesh from 93.9% to 99.2%. Among the bottom five, Meghalaya gained nearly 12 points and Tripura over seven, while Bengal edged up from 17.5% to 19.7%.Management-wise, internet access in govt-aided schools rose from 73.3% to 79.7% and private unaided coverage from 74.3% to 79.2%.A similar gap persists in computer availability. Overall, 69.9% of schools had computers in 2025-26 – 66.9% govt, 76.6% aided and 80% private unaided schools. For computers used for teaching, the shares were lower at 59.4%, 73.7% and 74%, respectively.Smart-classroom coverage nationally rose from 24.4% in 2023-24 to 33.9% in 2025-26. Govt schools posted an 11-point gain, compared with increases from 31% to 41% in aided schools and 34.6% to 39.9% in private schools.Digital libraries remained scarce, available in only 7.1% of schools – 5.7% govt, 10.4% aided and 11.2% private unaided institutions.The report says NE envisages schools equipped with “computing devices, internet, libraries” and other infrastructure to create “a safe, inclusive, and effective learning environment”.