Digital Divide In Afghanistan

In the era of modernisation, Information & Communication Technology (ICT) has enhanced our lives by allowing us to access all kinds of information. Unfortunately, not everyone in this world can access the internet. In some developing areas with insufficient internet accessibility, people still remain unconnected. This is the so called digital divide, which is defined as the gap between those who have ready access to computers and the Internet, and those who do not have. Digital divides mostly exist in developing countries. In fact, Afghanistan is one of the countries with the lowest standard of living among the world due to the decades of war and conflict. Having limited technical resources, the country has suffered from long years of isolation

As a matter of fact, the use of technology in education is the trend in the education system of this modern world in order to increase the learning efficiency. Students without internet access are unable to obtain additional academic resources through the internet, therefore it may affect their academic performance. Furthermore, computer skills is one of the requirements for entering most of the tertiary institutes. Students from low income families may not be able to enter them due to insufficient technology background. In this case, stagnant development will probably exist, causing Afghanistan communities to be isolated, and consequently provide ideal breeding grounds for terrorism. For example, the lack of education causes the younger generation in Afghanistan to be easily brainwashed by the Taliban (Sangin ,

The cost of a basic computer, are quite unaffordable for them. In order to solve the problem, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Afghanistan Ministry of Communication (MoC) have set up nine Telekiosks in Kabul, Afghanistan to enable the people to access the information from internet (Kdevries, 2003). Cisco Networking Academy Programme was started in 2003 in Afghanistan to provide the locals skill development in information technology. Furthermore, the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) association, the Afghan government, US Department of Defense and the Afghan mobile phone operator Roshan have started distributing the green low-cost XO laptops to students in the country (SEETA). Thanks to this project, more than 3, 600 children and teachers in schools in Baghlan, Herat, Kabul, Jalalabad and Kandahar have benefited from this program for being given the opportunity in learning how to learn (Roshan). However, there are millions of children at school age in Afghanistan, that means immense sums of money and a long period of time are needed. In overall, these measures may not be the most effective panacea for knowledge poverty due to the limited connectivity and electricity in rural areas, but they are indeed making progress in reaching the marginalised communities. At least, these organisations are aware in doing so to help the people and they are also arousing awareness in other communities for