Digital Divide & Inclusive Education: Examining How Unequal Access to Technology Affects Educational Inclusivity in Urban Versus Rural Pakistan

Abstract

This paper analyses the concept of the digital divide and its implications for the issue of inclusive education in both urban and rural Pakistan. This paper looks at the impact of technology on the inclusion of learners in education when technology is distributed concentrically and categorizes the study between urban and rural areas. This looks at the status of technological infrastructure and current access to the Internet in both environments, as well as perceived computer literacy. The positions discussed in the paper focus on the main problems related to the management of students' and educators' access to digital resources in the learning process. Regarding the aspect of equity, it also explores the government policy and strategies implemented towards closing the digital divide in education. It is thus evident that urban and rural areas are poles apart in terms of access and education by and with these devices. This paper's conclusions present possible ways of handling these inequalities: increasing formal infrastructure in these regions, training teachers, and changes in policy. This is followed by a recap of the concerns put forward in the preceding arguments about the necessity for concerted efforts towards the mobilization of equitable resources with a view to enhancing the educational resource mix at the base of the hill country's geography in Pakistan.