Nordiyanah Samsuddin : October 2014

Introduction

Despite Singapore being the 12th most wired country in the world, 15% of the population earning less than $2700 a month still do not own a computer or have internet access (Tham, 2014). In the aspect of education, these statistics poses a concern as the above mentioned households also consists of students who, because of their lack of access to the internet, are being denied educational opportunities. Since the digital divide between students from these households and their peers still persists, the Info-Communications Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) should evaluate and revise its NEU PC Plus Programme (NEU Plus programme) to be more inclusive in its attempt to reduce the digital divide between students in Singapore. In the current context, the IDA’s attempt at reducing this digital divide has unintentional drawbacks that may negatively affect a student’s education potential. This essay will further elaborate on NEU Plus and reviewing on its effectiveness.

NEU PC Plus Programme

The digital divide between students in Singapore is the inequality in the access and usage of the internet. The NEU Plus programme was established in 1999 in order to respond to this problem. The aim was to build an all-inclusive society where every student has access to the computer and the internet. With 3 schemes under its umbrella namely the PC-Bundle Scheme, The iNSPIRE Fund Scheme and The Grant Scheme for Schools, the programme ensures that low income students would be able to afford a computer and broadband access in spite of the extent of their financial situation.

Under the PC-Bundle Scheme, Singaporean students are able to purchase a computer with free software and 3 years of broadband subscription at a subsided rate of $146 for a desktop and $241 for a laptop. Those who are unable to afford subsidised rates will be channelled to the iNSPIRE Fund Scheme where they can engage in 3 to 12 months of community service as a form of payment for their computer and broadband services. The Grant Scheme for Schools, on the other hand, provides schools with the autonomy to deploy computers, software and broadband services to low income students within their schools.

Evaluation

The NEU Plus programme will be evaluated in terms of surfing speed, processing time and computer to person ratio in order to determine its effectiveness and efficiency.

Low Surfing Speed

The broadband surfing speed offered under the NEU Plus is 1 megabyte. This significantly differs from the average broadband surfing speed of 1 gigabyte provided by telecommunication companies like M1, Starhub and SingTel (Home Broadband, n.d). This means that as compared to their peers, students benefitting from this programme are at a severe disadvantage.

Students’ activities on the internet are being limited by the low surfing speed. At just 1 megabyte, they are unable to multi-task, which is one of the main characteristics of internet usage in the modern age. They are also unable to stream YouTube videos or load content heavy sites such as The Straits Times, Yahoo and BBC that may be useful for the learning (Tham, 2014). Not only that, they will also face difficulty accessing their respective school portals.

Efforts to reduce the digital divide should not be concentrated on just providing computers and internet access. Slow surfing speeds affect the student’s usage of the internet. As compared to their peers, they are still left behind as they are unable to fully benefit from the various educational opportunities presented to them via the internet.

Following the SARS outbreak in 2003, the Ministry of Education, Singapore (MOE) realised the need for a dependable online learning platform should students have to be quarantined for a prolonged duration (Retnasamy & Kaliamoorthy, 2007). This has prompted the teaching sector to integrate more online learning in school curriculums.

The integration of online learning has made the internet a very important tool in a student’s education. Students would often require access to the internet to download PowerPoint slides, tutorials, engage in e-learning activities and also for assignment submission. Important announcements are also being disseminated on school websites or social media platforms like Facebook. In simple terms, the access to internet is vital to ensure that a student is able to keep abreast with the demands of Singapore’s education system.

The long processing time would act as barrier for low income students to be able to fully participate in educational online activities such as doing online research, being involved in group projects or even basic activities such as downloading of course materials. With Singapore’s fast paced education, it will be difficult for these low income students to catch up. This puts them at a severe disadvantage.

One Computer per House Policy

Regardless of the number of students per household, each household is only entitled to one computer (The PC-Bundle scheme, n.d.). If a household has 5 students, one can only imagine the difficulties faced by these students of having to share a single computer which is equipped with a 1Mb broadband service. As of 2013, 66% of Singapore households have 2 computers or more (Infocomm Usage - Households and Individuals, n.d.). As compared to the low income students, majority of students in Singapore are much well off as they have access to multiple devices.

With low surfing speeds and just 1 computer to rely on, low income students would be spending a larger amount of time attending to online tasks as compared to their peers. This results in the low income students not being able to perform tasks efficiently and effectively on the internet. With the limited time at hand, the quality of work produced may be negatively affected.

Conclusion

In order to promote a greater balance in the educational opportunities provided to students in Singapore irrespective of parents’ income level, the IDA should review and include certain improvements in their current programmes. As the issue of digital divide is a complex one, the measures provided by IDA should extent to more than just providing computers and broadband connection. The speed of the internet, the students to computer ratio and the bureaucracy leading to a long processing time needs to be effectively addressed. Quality internet access should be given to provide the low income students with opportunities to gain a holistic education which may hold the key for them to break out of the poverty cycle.

References

Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore. (2014, October 1). Infocomm Usage - Households and Individuals. Retrieved from http://www.ida.gov.sg/Infocomm-Landscape/Facts-and-Figures/Infocomm-Usage-Households-and-Individuals#1

M1 . (n.d.). Home Broadband . Retrieved September 21, 2014 , from

https://www.m1.com.sg/personal/home-broadband

Retnasamy, K., & Kaliamoorthy, S. (2007, May). Development of ICT in Tamil Language Education in Singapore – An Overview. Proceedings of the Redesigning Pedagogy: Culture, Knowledge and Understanding Conference. Retrieved October