As part of a daring overture to modernization, the Nepalese government has embarked on an extensive digital awareness program intended to universally extend hi-tech connectivity to all groups of the Nepalese people. Launched by Ministry of Education, Science, and Technology, the plan is to provide citizens necessary digital competencies and expand availability of ICTs.
The principled call of this campaign is “Digital Nepal for All,” which includes several programs for different sections of Nepalese society, including school-going children, teenagers, working youths, and elderly people. At its core, it has developed a National network of digital learning centers in both large and small cities, where citizens can receive free training on computer literacy, use of the internet, and basic principles of digitization. To support these centers, the government has worked with technology companies and non-governmental organizations for hardware, software, and trainers.
Youth digital literacy is one of the major goals of the campaign, which means incorporating it into the formal education system. The ministry has also put out a proposal to review the school curriculum to accommodate required computer literacy from the pupils from primary to secondary school. Also in action is a program to offer tablets or laptops to students in public schools, starting with the pilot program in the selected districts.
For adults and out of school youths, the campaign highlight such school flexible programmes like evening classes and online classes. The focus has been placed on focus on minorities, women and people with disability with special programs for these categories taken with consideration to their peculiarities in approaching digital tools. To address this issue of access, mobile training units are being established to cover areas that may not support main training centers.
The industry has embraced it and is fully supporting the initiative. Mobile operators have committed to increasing the availability of Internet services to rural and expanding the availability of cheap data bundles for educational use. Tech firms are playing their role in creating localized content and applications in digital platforms to make it easier to access and contextualize in the Nepali environment.
The campaign also focuses on online safety/ responsible citizenship in cyberspace. Organizations continue to organize introductory and training sessions for the public on cybersecurity, personal data protection, and generally acceptable use of social media. This part of the initiative is useful in creating awareness and ensuring that people of Nepalin are equipped to face the future Henry et al, (2012).
Minister of Information and Communication Technology Puri urges people not to view the computer literacy project as a mere course but as a effort to turn Nepal into a country with people equipped with the knowledge of things. They note that there is need to ensure that more people acquire computer literacy if there is to be overall development in the economic sector as well as better governance and competitiveness in the global digital economy.
Nevertheless, the opposition sees problems like the scarcity of steady power supply in many African regions and the high cost of gadgets as potential pitfalls of the campaign. Also, a carry-forward of the digital divide has been criticized for worsening social and economic inequity if not well tackled holistically.
This campaign is still ongoing, and as its implementation progresses, it is receiving attention, especially from policymakers, educators, and other development partners. It is possible that the success in this area could be used to show that even other such countries in the developing world are facing similar issues in the digital economy. For Nepal, it has been accorded one of the best opportunities towards achieving Nepal’s dream of attaining a digitally enabled society for a better aspect of technology for growth and development.
