Dear Editor,
I wanted to talk about how Digital literacy has become important in a world that is increasingly digital. Illiteracy still stands as one of the major hurdles in Pakistan. Their competency and even the basic ability to negotiate the digital space are efforts many people in the country struggle with. This digital divide affects not only the development of a person but also our nation’s growth in the global economy.
Digital literacy is much more than knowing how to operate a computer or a smartphone. It’s today’s literacy—the ability to act critically, to perceive information; it’s the right online privacy and security use and digital media to use professionally in communication, education, and business. Most of the services, whether banking, health services, or education, have started to very quickly go online nowadays. Thus, those who are not digitally literate are having a serious disadvantage.
The COVID-19 pandemic brought to bear further into focus literacy, as millions of students plunged headlong into e-learning that they were ill-prepared for, together with their teachers. Many students are dented on the rock of poor digital skills in hinterland and underprivileged areas.
Therefore, the government and private sectors have to work together to fill this gap and bring digital literacy to all classes. Digital inclusion should be brought to school curricula, community programs, and access to facilities related to those technologies, including the internet. Special focus is thrown to address outreach to the leading marginalized groups including women, rural populations, and the elderly, for they are the most digitally excluded.
In a world where digital skills are becoming as fundamental as reading and writing, we cannot afford to leave giant portions of our population behind. Investing today in digital literacy will help to instill the capacities into the citizens so that they are able to further participate, to spur the economy, and to make sure Pakistan is in a position to be globally competitive.