Youths lack adequate Digital Literacy skills in Mullaithivu
The Gate Foundation and Harmony Centre, University of Vavuniya, Sri Lanka, have jointly conducted a pilot assessment among 125 people between the ages of 12 and 50 in January 2023 in Tanduwan village of Mullaithivu district, which was severely affected by the war in Sri Lanka.
According to the preliminary analysis of this study, 76 out of 125 people who participated in the survey have a smartphone with an internet connection. Forty-five of them are youths between 12-30 years of age; 27% do not know how to send an email, and 20% do not know how to use keywords to search for information. 53% do not get information about government services on the Internet. 42% of the job-seeking age between 21 and 31 years do not know how to search for job opportunities online- 54% are women.
A complete analysis of this pilot study will be published soon. However, the above preliminary research highlights the fact that digital literacy skills, which are crucial to accessing the needed information and opportunities to empower themselves, are significantly absent among the youth and demonstrates the importance of conducting a compressive assessment in the Northern and Eastern Provinces to develop effective and context-sensitive intervention strategies.
As the next step, this assessment will be carried out in the Vanni region, consisting of the Mannar, Mullaitivu, and Vavuniya districts.
A comprehensive survey will be conducted in a few weeks among approximately 3,000 people between the ages of 12 and 40 in the Vanni region, which consists of Mannar, Mullaitivu, and Vavuniya districts, with a confidence level of 99% and a Margin of Error of 2.5%.
