18 December 2023, New Delhi: Eighty percent of rural youth rarely (49 pc) or never (31 pc) engage with news, according to ‘Voices Survey’ conducted by the Life Skills Collaborative in collaboration with Breakthrough, Quest Alliance and Pratham Education Foundation.
The survey aimed to discern awareness and perceptions of life skills among youth, parents, school teachers/ITI Trainers, and trainers in Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) institutions.
The lack of engagement with news shows an evident gap, paving the way for targeted interventions to amplify access to current affairs and diverse information sources, informed an official statement.
The study also finds higher awareness of the term ‘life skills’ among those engaging more with news (pictured above).
The survey was conducted across 11 districts in Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Uttarakhand, Haryana and Mizoram. A total of 15,856 youth and 13,806 parents were surveyed through household visits. Additionally, 2,366 school teachers contributed to the survey.
The survey combined quantitative indicators with qualitative exploration through focus group discussions.
Findings indicate that 80 pc of rural youth in India are yet to embark on vocational or skill training. There is pronounced reliance on smartphones among rural youth, with 92 pc reporting usage, particularly for communication (92pc), entertainment (95 pc) and education (88 pc).
Approximately four in 10 have heard of the term ‘life skills’ or ’21st-century skills.’ Age, education level, and access to digital devices exert notable influence on awareness, the study found.
It reveals gender disparities in mobile phone access among parents, mirroring trends observed in the youth demographic. Only half of surveyed mothers own mobile phones compared to over 80 pc of fathers.
Rukmini Banerji, Chief Executive Officer, Pratham Education Foundation said, “The findings from ‘The Voices Survey’ underline the urgent need for initiatives that offer our young people opportunities to understand and acquire life skills. The public education system has a very important role to play in enabling this. Importantly, the survey revealed that most youth who were familiar with life skills had heard about them from their teachers, illustrating the critical role of public education systems in integrating life skills education into the curriculum.”
