DEFEATING POVERTY THROUGH EDUCATION: THE ROLE OF ICT · PDF filePoverty alleviation being one ... under the knowledge of the authors that have attempted to examine and conceptualize

M. Aftab, I. Ismail ISSN 1648 - 4460

Structural Transformations in Business Development

TRANSFORMATIONS IN BUSINESS & ECONOMICS, Vol. 14, No 3 (36), 2015

42

Aftab, M., Ismail, I. (2015), „Defeating Poverty through Education: The

Role of ICT”, Transformations in Business & Economics, Vol. 14, No 3

(36), pp.42-59.

DEFEATING POVERTY THROUGH EDUCATION: THE

ROLE OF ICT

1Muhammad Aftab

Department of Finance and

Banking

Faculty of Business and

Accountancy

University of Malaya

50603 Kuala Lumpur

Malaysia E-mail: [email protected]

2Izlin Ismail Department of Finance and

Banking

Faculty of Business and

Accountancy

University of Malaya 50603

Kuala Lumpur Malaysia

E-mail: [email protected]

1Muhammad Aftab is a PhD candidate in the Department of

Finance and Banking, Faculty of Business and Accountancy,

University of Malaya. He has published and presented his

research work in the reputed journals and conferences. His

areas of research interests are corporate finance, developmental

finance and microfinance.

2Izlin Ismail, PhD, is currently the deputy director at the

International Institute of Public Policy and Management

(INPUMA) and a lecturer at the Department of Finance and

Banking, Faculty of Business and Accountancy, University of

Malaya. She has published papers in local and international

journals. Her areas of research interest are capital markets with

the focus on the fixed income market, corporate finance and

monetary history.

---------TRANSFORMATIONS IN --------

BUSINESS & ECONOMICS

© Vilnius University, 2002-2015

© Brno University of Technology, 2002-2015 © University of Latvia, 2002-2015




43

Received: July, 2013

1st Revision: February, 2014

2nd Revision: September, 2014

Accepted: May, 2015

ABSTRACT. Information and communications technology

(ICT) has emerged as a core driver of the modern knowledge based

economy with its crucial role in the socioeconomic development

and economic growth of a country. ICT based education and

socioeconomic development programs provide innovative solutions

to defeat poverty. Poverty is the worst dilemma of modern society,

which is hard to be described and can only be felt well by the

sufferer. Poverty accompanied with the illiteracy is a big challenge

for the world peace and stability and possibly one of the major

contributors in nurturing terrorism and instability. However,

education is the primary driver in alleviating poverty and is linked

directly with stability, growth and development of the country.

Educated people get better jobs and vision to transform their lives,

and they are as well more capable to positively contribute to the

society. This research investigates the role of ICT in promoting

education and eradicating poverty in the form of socio-economic

development programs. The authors of this article focus on issues

in forming ICT based educational and socio development

initiatives, which can maximize the inclusion of the poor in the

mainstream system and make them capable to change their destiny.

KEYWORDS: ICT, poverty, education, development, technology.

JEL classification: I25, I3, N7.

Introduction

Poverty as in the definition provided by United Nations is a denial of choices and

opportunities, a violation of human dignity. Similarly, United Nations Development Program

(UNDP) views that poverty is „not merely in the impoverished state in which the person

actually lives, but also in the lack of real opportunity – due to social constraints as well as

personal circumstances – to lead valuable and valued lives” (Wild et al., 1997, p.15).

According to World Bank 2008 estimates, 1.29 billion people (22.4% of the world population)

are living below the absolute poverty (1.25$ a day). This is the greatest challenge for the

world development, peace and stability. The worse scenario is the exclusion of the poor

segment from the mainstream social, economic and political system due to the lack of skills

and education which are the prerequisites of the mainstream system. This leads to

marginalization making poor available for the other parallel systems to the state (e.g. non-state

elements, terrorists networks etc.) that offer the poor to fulfil their life basic necessities, on

one hand, and brainwash and exploit them to destabilize the writ and functioning of

governments and development initiatives, on the other hand. Berman, Laitin (2008)

corroborate this view and report that terrorist groups are nurturing and succeeding not due to

the religiosity factor, but the commitment of residents won by the provision of public goods to

them.

The way to defeat poverty has been controversial in the developmental studies. There

is neither any undisputed development theory, nor consensus over the way development takes

place. After World War II, economic growth was the dominant approach to development,

where it was suggested that an increase in wealth would lead to poverty eradication and its

related problems. However, few decades later, especially after the recession of 1980s and

1990s, this view started to fade (Cremin, Nakabugo, 2012). High economic growth was not




44

accompanied with the poverty reduction, especially in developing countries (King, 2009).

Thus, the focus was shifted from the economic growth to economic development to extirpate

poverty and related issues of development (Mukherjee, Benson, 2003). Recent studies show

that the effective way for poverty alleviation is only possible through the improvements in

education and health (Cremin, Nakabugo, 2012). Education is a strong source for defeating

poverty as it opens the doors of tremendous opportunities and gives an individual not only a

chance to change his/her fate but also of many others of his community, country and

ultimately the world as a whole in the current information technology (IT) era. Educated

people have more skills and knowledge, which make them capable to earn more and

contribute more to the social welfare of the society. Efforts to curb poverty by raising literacy

rate are reinforced by the ICT with education being the most proper ICT utilization channel of

all the socio economic programs (Casal, 2007). ICT has emerged as a strong resource in the

last couple of decades by giving new meanings to human lives, interactions and way of doing

things. It has revolutionized every sphere of human lives, and education is no exception. For

example, online learning resources like Khan Academy, TED talks, Academic Earth, Open

Culture and open online massive courses of M.I.T, Stanford and Harvard universities

followed with social online networks have made online medium a strong and innovative

global university. Now, a person, who is not able to attend university, can attend classes

online and can update his/her skills and open new horizons of progress. Online education and

learning is convenient, cheaper and more effective.

Although ICT is a very effective tool, but the issue is how it can help the poor (Adeya,

2002). According to Harindranath, Sein (2007) the way ICT is conceptualized makes it

meaningful for any developmental goal. Poverty alleviation being one of the top priority

developmental goals requires special attention in this regard. According to Casal (2007), the

most effective role of ICT in development is derived through education. No work comes

under the knowledge of the authors that have attempted to examine and conceptualize the ICT

role in poverty eradication considering the pertinent part of education. Therefore, the aim of

this paper is to examine and conceptualize the role of ICT in education for alleviating poverty.

This study discusses various advantages and issues related to ICT and examines its

significance in promoting education and eradicating poverty. The study substantiates the

argument with some time series empirics from Pakistan and some cross sectional observations

across the globe.

The paper is arranged as follows. The next four sections discuss the ICT role in

development, education and poverty alleviation. Section six elaborates the methodology.

Section seven provides the results. In the preceding section, some further issues, i.e., gender,

ICT cost & coverage and governance, are discussed. Section eight concludes the paper.

1. ICT for Development (ICT4D)

ICT is now one of the important infrastructures, which paves the ways to progress. It

is creating new jobs and opportunities, bringing close communities and narrowing the spatial

distances. ICT is not merely a connection of information, but a strong link in the chain of

development process (Hudson, 2001). Empirical evidence supports the increasing causal link

between the telecommunication development and economic development (Kenny et al.,

2000). ICT has its developmental role in a wide range in every walk of life. For example, in

agriculture, one case study by Addo-Dankwa (2002), which discusses „how farmer gets

benefits from computers?”, shows that the farmer that has computer can access markets and




45

increase their revenues by knowing about the regional market practices and international new

knowledge about the agriculture.

However, rhetorical statements on the developmental potential of ICT have raised

more questions and ambiguity over its role in the development (Butcher, 1998; Sein,

Harindranath, 2004). Harindranath, Sein (2007) try to calm down this ambiguity and suggest

that success or failure of ICT in development is based largely on how governments and

developmental agencies conceptualize the ICT role in the development. They have suggested

an integrated model that describes different topologies of views, impact and use of ICT is

shown in Figure 1. They accentuate that the preferences should be targeted to the upper

hierarchal levels of views, impact and use to get optimal benefits from the ICT, although

lower hierarchal levels are as well essential for the overall efficiency of ICT initiatives.

According to Harindranath and Sein, knowledge creation and human resource development

should be the top goal in any ICT based developmental initiative.

Source: Sein, Harindranath (2004). Adopted with permission.

Figure 1. Integrative Framework of ICT for Development.

1.1 The Case of Virtual University

Casal (2007) envisions that the appropriate venue of ICT use in the development is

through the education for nurturing skills and knowledge. Taking this perspective in view,

Virtual University (VU) was founded in March 23, 2002 by the president of Pakistan. The

primary aim of this project was to promote education through information technology. The

first batch of 500 students started their classes on 26 March 2002. Now it has grown huge in a

short span of time. Presently, it has its own campuses in sixty cities across Pakistan, besides

about one hundred and forty private campuses formed in collaboration with the private

colleges. These campuses have perquisites; the state of the art technological facilities of

computers, internet and multimedia projectors. Lectures are delivered through four VU’s

cable channels, i.e., VTV1, VTV2, VTV3 & VTV4 and YouTube website. Presently, the

number of students has exceeded 100,000. If analysing the VU success as per Sein,

ICT Views

o Tool: a mean to

achieve something

o Computational: The

machine in ICT

o Ensemble: part of a

bigger “Package”

o Proxy: What it

represents

ICT Use

o As a commodity

o Supporting development

activities

o As a driver of

economy

o Directed at specific

development

activities Human Development

o Choice of healthy life

o Choice to be educated

o Choice to the decent

standard to living

o Political freedom and

democracy

o Human rights

o Other implicit factors:

wealth distribution, social

mobility etc.

ICT Impact

o First order: substitution

o Second order: increase in

the phenomenon

o Third order: emergence

of new structures




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Harindranath (2004) framework, it lies in the upper hierarchy of views, impacts and use, as it

is directly involved in knowledge creation, raising human development and direct use of ICT

in development.

2. ICT and Education

ICT has changed the traditional pedagogy to learning without physical boundaries as it

has been discussed in the earlier VU case study. It has opened the doors of educational

patrimony for a large number of people. Few of many its wonders are discussed below.

2.1 Enhancement in Learner’s Capabilities

Now, learners are in more good position to communicate and share knowledge and

ideas. ICT gives access to the huge avenues of information that need to be discovered rather to

be taught. It as well gives freedom to students to interact and retrieve information in their own

way, time, place and format, thus making learning experience more enriched and full of

customization. Consequently, the schools are no more the only places for education and

learning in the current times (Ott, Pozzi, 2011). Now, learners can do academic works

wherever they are through smart devices and internet (Ruiz et al., 2008; Economides, 2009).

Thus, information technology has freed learners from the limits of time and space (Jarvis,

2000; Wilson, 2003).

2.2 Growth of Informal Ways of Education

ICT has as well promoted the informal learning which is defined by Coombs (1985)

„the spontaneous, unstructured learning that goes on daily in the home and neighbourhood,

behind the school and on the play field, in the workplace, marketplace, library and museum,

and through the various mass media”. Current IT era students can be well comprehended as

„Digital Natives” (Prensky, 2001) who are building their capabilities and competences in the

informal ways due to an immense engagement in ICT based activities (Sutherland et al., 2008,

p.57). These informal engagements are leading to the formation of strong social networks,

which are providing platforms to share ideas and new experiences.

2.3 Repositioning the Nations

Introduction of ICT to the classrooms have started to define the overall image of a

country. Previously, the countries of the same level are now having a lot of differences in their

overall indicators due to the way they have comprehended ICT. For example, the case of

Chile and South Korea by Sanchez et al. (2011) explains well this point. Both were third

world countries with almost the same economic position in the past few decades. However,

South Korea incorporated ICT in its educational policy more effectively as compared to Chile.

Thus, South Korea is now technology leader in the world being on the top of ICT

Development Index (IDI) rankings and has better overall economic indicators as compared to

Chile.




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2.4 Labour Efficiency

ICT can create opportunities and reduce distances; however, its effectiveness for the

workforce is better articulated if the workforce is educated in this information age (Brown,

2001; Adeya, 2002). The core asset of labour is labour-time, and education enhances this

asset. Literate individuals can learn and develop new skills and capabilities; thus, they are

more efficient and more productive. Educated farmers are more capable to learn and adopt

new technologies and be successful in increasing return on their lands (Cremin, Nakabugo,

2012).

The amalgamation of ICT with education is quite impressive. As the real progress

starts through the improvements in the human capital; therefore, the support and potential of

ICT in improving the literacy rate can substantiate the efforts to raise the human capabilities

and the overall human capital. However, these policies cannot work smoothly if the challenge

of poverty, especially in developing countries, is not taken into account. Before discussing

this point, first, this study discusses the potential of ICT in tackling with poverty.

3. Role of ICT in Poverty Alleviation

In the present global village of IT, ICT has potential to assist poor to get literacy and

marketable skills (Chowdhury, 2000) and to empower socioeconomic developmental

initiatives. A strong relationship subsists between the ICT and socioeconomic development

(Shirazi et al., 2009; ITU, 2003); nevertheless, ICT has no direct impact on the poverty in

literature (Adeya, 2002). The proper way of ICT operationalization makes it a good facilitator

to fight poverty. Its relationship with poverty is indirect, complex and based more on the

dynamic process of interactions between people and technology within specific socio-

economic, cultural and local contexts.

One success story of ICT victory in defeating poverty is the Grameen Telecom, a non-

profit company in Bangladesh. In order to become a subscriber of this company, one must be

a member of the Grameen Bank, a microfinance bank in Bangladesh. It has been very

successful in including the rural areas into the world of information technology and has

changed the lives of many people through the telephone access. A member of the Grameen

bank gets a loan of 385 US dollars per piece, then he/she rents the telephone sets to the

villagers on a commercial basis. This improves the owner’s financials (through rent) and

villager’s financials (through the service charges), thus improving their incomes. Grameen

Bank calls these telephones as Village pay phones (VPP). These VPPs have become

production goods through pragmatic policies and are delivering benefits to the poor (Bayes et

al., 1999). These are as well enhancing phone leasing women, their household’s

empowerment and self-esteem and making sure of connectivity of villages, well

transformation of information during the calamity situations (Adeya, 2002) and more

importantly, the integration with the rest of the world: the knowledge about trends and

opportunities. Some further issues related to the ICT role in poverty initiatives are discussed

hereafter.

3.1 Micro Financing

One of the effective instruments to defeat poverty is micro financing where financing

is provided to the poor who otherwise cannot access financial services easily. The major issue

to micro financing is the lending cost and the scattered population of target customers in rural




48

areas. Almost seventy-five percent of the world poorest population lives in the rural areas

(Lines, 2008), and effective poverty alleviation programs needs their roots in these areas

(Cremin, Nakabugo, 2012). The cost of delivery is a big hurdle, as the cost of a big corporate

loan and a micro loan is the same. Swayam Krishi Sangam, a microfinance institution in the

Andhra Pradesh in India, has solved high cost of delivery problem through smart card

technology that has resulted in 18% savings in its operations (SBP, 2007).

3.2 Information Dissemination and Social Inclusion

Another aspect of poverty is the poor people’s lack of information about opportunities

and not being in connection with the mainstream world. Information about opportunities can

be transferred in presence of ICT (Lallement et al., 2006) to enhance social inclusion which

has much stretched after globalization (Hendry, 2000). Gani, Clemes (2006) studied the role

of ICTs in 58 low-income countries and reported that ICT through the transfer of knowledge

is playing an important role in the overall wellbeing of the poor.

ICT in presence of internet can help to access low cost information about government

services, agriculture products, market information, job opportunities, investment

opportunities, community development networks and distance learning (Proenza, 2002).

Proenza (2002) recommended e-for-all public policy initiative to combat poverty effectively.

This policy is based on three principles. First, provide affordable information to everyone.

Second, open concrete programs to provide opportunities to poor, and finally, the government

should take part actively in the financing and supporting of ICT to bring the socio-economic

development suited for the less developed areas (Adeya, 2002; Proenza, 2002).

3.3 Break Down of the Vicious Cycle of Poverty

Developing countries have a vicious cycle of poverty accompanied with lawlessness,

corruption, weak institutions, a low level of human capital and heavy debt burden (Casal,

2007). Instability and corruption are as well big challenges which are in some way promoting

poverty and declining the effectiveness of socio-economic developmental initiatives. In such

scenarios, the hurdles for the poor in getting the fruits of ICT are further drained. The issue is

how this vicious cycle of poverty can be changed into virtuous ones. Information is very

helpful when looking for a way to change. The rationale behind is that the information gives

poor the knowledge how and vision about what is going on in the circles from where he/she is

excluded. By this way, even if he/she is not able to change himself/herself, at least he/she has

some vision of skills/capabilities needed for the betterment of his/her siblings/next generation.

There, the role of ICT in communication and dissemination of such information becomes very

complimentary. Given the importance of ICT, the poor people’s problems related to the ICT

are very pertinent to have a broader perspective on poverty and ICT relationship.

Moreover, in Wresch (1996) view, the poor face four problems related to information:

geographic isolation, lack of communication channels, language problems and lack of

computer systems. Geographic isolation can be curtailed by connecting the remote areas

through lines. For this purpose, a simple medium is the telephone lines, but these are not all

across the developing countries. In recent times, wireless technology can help in connecting

remote areas. Lack of communication channels and computer is pure ICT related issue and

can be solved by providing subsidized systems like one laptop per child (OLPC) scheme in

Mongolia and free laptops by Punjab province government in Pakistan to the brilliant

students. Language barriers can be only overcome through promoting education and




49

customizing mainstream information dissemination channels into the local languages. ICT in

the context of poverty alleviation requires more local contextualization rather than foreign

alien context utilization for fixing local problems (Heeks, 1999). Heek (1999) further argues

that poor need resources to put in action to access existing information rather than new

information, and their information need may better met by the informal information systems

rather than formal ICT based systems.

4. Poverty Alleviation with ICT Supported Education

ICTs are simple tools which alone cannot solve global problems like poverty which is

caused by multiple complex factors (Brown, 2001). These tools require appropriate venue for

proper utilization. There is no better venue other than education for ICT (Casal, 2007).

Education is considered as the primary driver in alleviating poverty, and its crucial

effectiveness can be observed in developmental discussions. Investment in education is the

major way for crafting an effective strategy for poverty reduction (Tarabini, 2010). As per

human capital theory, education increases the capabilities which enhance opportunities to

increase income and inclusion in economic growth (Tarabini, Jacovkis, 2012). There is a close

link between education and income, and higher education levels result in higher average

earnings (World Bank, 2006). Moreover, the self-employed persons who have some basic

education earn more than illiterates (Cremin, Nakabugo, 2012).

Based on the above literature and discussion, the authors propose that ICT

accompanied with education is more robust and meaningful in eradicating poverty.

Theoretically, it is suggested that as the ICT based education gets more coverage, it is in the

reach of the masses, which as well includes the marginalized and poor segment of the society.

This inclusion can appear due to the affordability and convenience augmented to the

educational programs by ICT. As a result, the poverty which is the big hurdle to the progress

will start converging into the resourceful, capable masses. Therefore the policies should be

modelled in such a way that the maximum utilization of ICT can be made possible in

educational and developmental programs.

5. Methodology

This study utilizes vector auto-regression (VAR) to examine the role of ICT in

education and poverty. This technique uses impulse response function and variance

decomposition, thus termed as an innovation accounting approach by Shan (2005). The

forecast error variance decomposition allows inferences to be made based on the movements

in a particular series due to its own earlier shocks as well as shocks due to other variables in

the VAR system. Thus, this helps to understand a variable(s) which is (are) leading change on

the other variable(s). However, an impulse response function tells the time path of the

influence on a particular variable due to the shocks in the other variables in the system.

The VAR system for current study is expressed as:

(1) 1 t

k

i itit XAX

where,,, tttt PovertyEducationICTX

,,, PovertyEducationICTt

kAA 1 are three by three matrices of the coefficients, and t is a vector of error terms.




50

Data regarding the ICT is retrieved from the World Bank Development Indicators and

education and poverty is retrieved from the various issues of Pakistan Economic Survey and

as well sourced from Jamal (2006). This study spans over the period of 1995 to 2013. The

authors have constructed the ICT variable by aggregating the three measures, i.e., Internet

users per 100 persons, Landline telephone lines per 100 and mobile subscribers per 100.

Education is measured as the national literacy rate in percentage while poverty is measured as

the proportion of the population below the national poverty line.

6. Results

Figure 2 shows the overview of the ICT, education and poverty dynamics in Pakistan

over the period 1995-2013. It is observable that ICT and education are expanding over time.

However, the growth rate is higher in ICT as compared to the education. In fact, Pakistan is

grown up very rapidly in the information technology. It has technology parks (e.g. Arfa Karim

Technology Park), purely information technology based universities (e.g. COMSATS Institute

of Information Technology, Virtual University), highly competitive cellular services, a high-

speed broadband internet and the third generation and fourth generation mobile

communication technologies. In such technologically advanced scenario, the influence on the

masses lives is inevitable. It is interesting to note in Figure 2 that the proportion of population

below poverty line is as well declining over the period.

Source:

Figure 2. ICT, Education and Poverty in Pakistan

With the pattern observed in the Figure 2, the authors are curious to divulge the

pertinent dynamics. In order to attain this, the authors pursue this analysis to innovation

accounting. Table 1 reports the variance decomposition for poverty over ten periods ahead. It

is interesting to note that the variance proportion of poverty is more explained by education as

compared to ICT albeit, ICT as well explains the substantial portion. Moving to impulse

response function, Figure 3 shows that one standard deviation shock in ICT cause a negative

response in poverty. Similar repose in poverty is as well observable in case of one standard

deviation shock in education. However, one standard deviation shock in ICT creates a

moderate positive response in education. From these results, it can be concluded that ICT and

education are very effective in curbing poverty. Moreover, ICT is crucial in promoting

education. These results are pertaining to Pakistan. In order to visualize the broader

perspective, the authors extend the analysis to a group of countries.




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Table 1. Variance decomposition to forecast error for poverty

Period Poverty ICT Education

1 46.2062 6.1419 47.6518

2 49.2211 6.3969 44.382

3 42.8818 6.5875 50.5307

4 40.6173 8.6855 50.6972

5 37.5559 14.3083 48.1358

6 41.0921 17.4336 41.4743

7 41.3232 18.3851 40.2917

8 39.262 18.8626 41.8754

9 37.4916 19.5878 42.9205

10 36.534 20.744 42.722

Source:

-2

0

2

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Response of eduation to ICT

-8

-4

0

4

8

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Response of poverty to ICT

-8

-4

0

4

8

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Response of poverty to education

Note. dotted lines show standard errors, plain lines show the response to one standard deviation shock.

Source:

Figure 3. Impulse Response Functions

In order to have a broader picture of the interactions among ICT, education and

poverty globally, the authors have plotted the data of 135 countries for the year 2011 as

shown in Figure 2. ICT Development Index (IDI) ranking, literacy rate and the population

below poverty line are used as proxies for ICT, education and poverty, respectively. All the

data regarding these variables are retrieved from the International Telecommunication Union

(ITU) and Central Intelligence Authority (CIA) Fact-book. The list of these 135 countries

along the variables data is provided in the Appendix.




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Note: This Figure shows the numerical data for IDI ranking, literacy rate and poverty rate of 135 countries for

the year 2011. IDI ranking is retrieved from the International Telecommunication Union database, while literacy

rate and poverty rate is taken from CIA fact book. Abbreviations: IDI ranking = ICT development index ranking;

Literacy = percentage literacy rate; poverty = percentage of population below poverty line.

Source: International Telecommunication Union and CIA Factbook.

Figure 4. ICT, Education and Poverty Numeric over the Globe

It is observable from Figure 4 that the countries with a high IDI rank have a high

literacy rate and comparatively low poverty rate. Although at this time, it is arduous to

differentiate between enabled ICT and conventional programs for the promotion of education

and alleviation of poverty relationship due to the unavailability of disaggregated data, but it is

quite clear from the pattern in Figure 4 that education and ICT are two important players in

defeating poverty. Although it is not easy to estimate the return on education, but a huge

consensus exists over the benefits of education to individual and society. Education is the

prime goal of development, and it contributes much to promote the development (Cremin,

Nakabugo, 2012). ICT for development gets strong linkage for the poverty alleviation only

through the education properly. Thus, the integrated approach to poverty eradication can get

effective support of ICT if properly applied through the channel of education.

In fact, poverty is a multi-facet issue, and many structural policy reforms are needed to

solve this problem. The next section discusses some further issues, which are impeding the

ICT based solutions to alleviate poverty.

7. Further Issues

7.1 Women Education

Women education is crucial in the way to prosperity. Gender discrepancies still exit in

education in the developing countries, and females get fewer opportunities to get education as

compared to males. There is a need for the formulation of ICT based solutions to promote




53

female education for the overall improvement of Human Development Index. There are

different venues to be targeted by the ICT based solution in promoting women education. For

example, ICT can curb the poverty by improving mother access to information related to

nutrition and problems related to malnutrition (Chowdhury, 2000). It is as well an effective

source to combat poverty in rural and urban areas, if a synergy exists among the government,

private sector and non-government organizations (NGOs) towards the free flow of

information, women participation and capacity building to tackle digital divide (different

information needs of rural and urban people) (Samiullah, Rao, 2000).

7.2 Affordability and Coverage

The access and operationalization of technology in the poor and remote areas is

difficult (Dymond, Oestmann, 2002) on one hand, and there is huge uncultivated demand for

the information in South Asia and Sub Saharan Africa (Pigato, 2001), on the other hand. This

information technology constrained diffusion appears due to the affordability factor; thus, in

this case, active participation of government (Pigato, 2001) and funding agencies is much

needed.

There are different ways to tackle affordability and enhance coverage of ICT. One

example in this context is the Quiponet, a financially self-sustaining project with major aim to

disseminate information through email (Delgado et al., 2002). The prime objective of which is

„to channel resources, materials and knowledge available all over the world to people in need

in South America, with emphasis on Peru” (Adeya, 2002). This network helps in promoting

educational programs, developing affordable networks and supporting professionals to

promote Peru’s local medicines and inca heritage to the global community. Another initiative

in this regard is a close the gap (CTG), a non-for-profit company initiated in Belgium and The

Netherland. CTG takes high quality used computers in the developed world, which may be

thrown out or recycled, and distribute them for the reuse in schools and hospitals in

developing countries after checking and reconfiguring them.

The examples of Quiponet and CTG show that the affordability issue can be solved

through community involvement, indigenous solutions and global thinking towards the

development. The coverage issue is bit harder due to the dispersed poor communities in small

trenches in the rural remote areas. The traditional radio and television can be considered to

enhance the coverage. Radio can be used as a transmitter of information, which is cheaper and

more feasible except for one energy cost. If cheaper solar cells are developed to provide

energy to radio, this can be an effective source, as it was in the past. Jensen (1999) has

supported this view in the case of Africa. Besides this, telephones and cellular networks can

promote different portals like agricultural prices in different markets, health information and

weather information, which can help the poor.

Television is as well a strong player to promote coverage and it can enhance the

understanding of viewers due to the picture component as well including special persons who

cannot listen and can learn by viewing. Different programs can be designed to deliver

education and information to remote communities. For example, „Telesecundaria” is a

television based educational program in Mexico, which meets rural educational demands. It

delivers a junior secondary school curriculum to teachers and students in remote rural areas

(Calderoni, 1998). Likewise, the Virtual University delivery system of lectures on television

is not only helping its enrolled students but also other people to learn new knowledge and

skills. One issue in this regard is the unavailability of cable television in remote areas which

can be made sure through the terrestrial transmitters’ installation.




54

7.3 Governance

There are a lot of hurdles to poverty alleviation programs, and the top worse is the

poor governance (UNDP, 2000). The interference of government and regulators is necessary

to implement the ICT based programs effectively in the presence of conflicting public and

private interests. Transparency over the proper utilization of resources and a strong check on

the corruption are crucial to make poverty alleviation efforts more effective.

Finally, proper ICT implementation requires infrastructural support (e.g. electricity,

equipment, internet etc.), experienced staff, and proper documentation and well-defined

contents. Besides this, the government ability to defeat corruption, implement the rule of law,

the investment in people, building political will and a public private partnership and strong

commitment by all the stakeholders are the essential ingredients for an effective ICT program

implementation (Casal, 2007). More importantly, the inclusion of poor and marginalized is

very important in this whole process (Marcelle, 2000).

Conclusions

With the current technology dominated world, ICT mounts a vast potential in solving

the contemporary issues. However, there is still paucity in understanding ICT role in the

crucial issues of modern times like poverty and illiteracy. This study attempts to conceptualize

and examine the importance of ICT in these serious issues. Findings based on the time series

analysis of the Pakistani data and cross sectional global data show that the advancement in

ICT leads to high literacy as well as low poverty rates. Therefore, this paper emphasizes the

introduction of ICT based solutions to enhance literacy and curb poverty. All this processes

should focus on improving the literacy rate which is a very effective way to alleviate poverty.

In this regard, for effective policy making, there is an immense need to understand the

poverty which is not mare the lack of enough income, but the exclusion of poor from the

mainstream system due to their lack of appropriate skills. This is very dangerous for peace

and stability, as this makes poor available for the unwanted outcomes like terrorists. In order

to avoid this marginalization, new skills can be nurtured through educating poor in more

effective and broad ways by incorporating ICT based innovative solutions.

Finally, when resolving issues like women education, affordability and coverage,

better governance, accountability, and transparency can be very helpful in ICT-based

solutions effectiveness towards the improvement of literacy rate and skills and strengthening

the poverty alleviation efforts. The government should adopt regulations supportive to less

developed segments by subsidizing the ICT related infrastructure. In this regard, Kibati’s

(1999) research on access of poor and low income to communications in Kenya suggests that

the effectiveness of technologies in that segment is much dependent on the tariff and

regulations for technologies used by that class. Thus, the support should be provided to ICT

projects, but the ultimate goal should be the self-sustainability as is the case of Quiponet in

Peru and Grameen Telecom in Bangladesh. Moreover, emphasizes should be made on the ICT

based indigenous and innovative solutions as a culture of modern way of tackling problems.

There should be some arrangement to bring brilliant minds together to discuss crucial issues

and devise some most feasible and appropriate solutions. In this regard, the existing models

like i-hub in Nairobi can be refined and customized to the other part of the globe.




55

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57

SKURDO SUMAŽINIMAS PER IŠSILAVINIMĄ: IRT VAIDMUO

Muhammad Aftab, Izlin Ismail

SANTRAUKA

Šiame straipsnyje analizuojamas informacijos ir ryšių technologijų (IRT) vaidmuo, stiprinant raštingumą

skatinančias iniciatyvas, kurios yra tikslingai nukreiptos sumažinti skurdą. Kadangi IRT atsirado kaip vienas iš

veiksmingiausių variklių sukeliančių revoliuciją visose gyvenimo srityse, jo reikšmė yra labai svarbi švietimo ir

socioekonomikos vystymosi programoms. Modernių technologijų įtraukimas į ugdymą yra svarus ginklas kovoje

su neraštingumu. Žlugus ekonominiu augimu pagrįstai teorijai, kuri buvo naudota kontroliuojant skurdą

praeitame amžiuje, dėmesys buvo perkeltas nuo ekonomikos augimo prie ekonomikos vystymosi. Šis nauja

vystymosi sąvoka pabrėžia socialinę gerovę, kuri apima išsilavinimą, sveikatą ir paramą atskirtoms visuomenės

grupėms. Šioje naujoje vystymosi sąvokoje itin svarbu ištirti skurdo mažinimo tendenciją. Skurdas – viena iš

svarbiausių XXI amžiaus žmonijos dilemų, kuri itin pasireiškia besivystančiose pasaulio dalyse. Skurdas lydimas

neraštingumo yra didelis iššūkis pasaulio taikai ir stabilumui ir turbūt vienas iš pagrindinių veiksnių skatinančių

terorizmą ir nestabilumą. Požiūris, kad švietimas efektyviai padeda sumažinti skurdą yra plačiai palaikomas

dabartinėje politikoje ir literatūroje. IRT susiliejimas su švietimu deda pastangas kovoje su skurdu. Sprendimai,

kurie yra pagrįsti IRT, yra ekonomiškesni, o jų apimtis pribloškianti, tačiau ypač besivystančiose šalyse vis dar

egzistuoja tokios problemos kaip lyčių nelygybė, prasta infrastruktūra, perkamumas, prastas valdymas ir t.t.,

kurios apsunkina IRT pagrįsto socioekonominio vystymosi iniciatyvų efektyvumą. Egzistuoja didžiulis valdžios

paramos ir viešojo ir privačiojo sektoriaus partnerystės poreikis, tam kad būtų galima susidoroti su šiomis

problemomis.

REIKŠMINIAI ŽODŽIAI: IRT, skurdas, švietimas, vystymasis, technologijos.




58

Appendice 1 Table A. Global literacy, education and poverty empirics for the year 2011

Country Rank Literacy Poverty Country Rank Literacy Poverty

Albania 80 98.70 12.50 El Salvador 103 81.10 36.50

Algeria 104 69.90 23.00 Eritrea 152 67.80 50.00

Argentina 56 97.20 30.00 Estonia 24 99.80 17.50

Austria 19 98.00 6.00 Ethiopia 150 42.70 29.20

Azerbaijan 68 99.80 11.00 Fiji 88 93.70 31.00

Belarus 46 99.60 27.10 Finland 5 100.00 17.90

Belgium 23 99.00 15.20 France 18 99.00 6.20

Benin 141 42.40 37.40 Gabon 111 88.40 32.70

Bhutan 118 47.00 23.20 Gambia 125 50.00 48.40

Bolivia 98 86.70 51.30 Georgia 73 99.70 9.70

Bosnia and

Herzegovina 63 97.90 18.60 Germany 16 99.00 15.50

Botswana 108 84.50 30.30 Ghana 117 67.30 28.50

Brazil 60 98.60 21.40 Greece 33 96.00 20.00

Bulgaria 51 98.40 21.80 Guinea 148 54.20 47.00

Burkina Faso 151 21.80 46.70 Guyana 99 91.80 35.00

Cambodia 121 73.60 31.00 Honduras 107 80.00 60.00

Cameroon 138 75.90 48.00

Hong Kong,

China 11 93.50 18.00

Canada 22 99.00 9.40 Hungary 41 99.00 13.90

Cape Verde 101 84.30 30.00 Iceland 4 99.00 10.00

Central African Rep. 153 56.00 62.00 India 119 61.00 29.80

Chad 154 34.50 80.00 Indonesia 95 90.40 12.50

Chile 55 95.70 15.10 Iran (I.R.) 87 77.00 18.70

China 78 92.20 13.40 Ireland 20 99.00 5.50

Colombia 76 90.40 37.20 Israel 27 97.10 23.60

Comoros 130 74.90 60.00 Jamaica 89 87.90 16.50

Congo (Dem. Rep.) 146 83.80 71.00 Japan 8 99.00 16.00

Congo (Rep. of the) 140 66.80 71.00 Jordan 75 92.60 14.20

Costa Rica 71 94.90 24.20 Kazakhstan 49 99.50 8.20

Cote d’lvoire 129 56.20 42.00 Kenya 114 87.40 50.00

Croatia 42 98.80 18.00 Korea (Rep.) 1 97.90 15.00

Czech Republic 32 99.00 9.00 Laos 120 73.00 26.00

Denmark 3 99.00 13.40 Latvia 36 99.80 5.90

Djibouti 128 67.90 42.00 Lebanon 65 87.40 28.00

Dominican Rep. 93 87.00 34.40 Liberia 149 60.80 80.00

Ecuador 82 91.00 28.60 Lithuania 35 99.70 4.00

Egypt 83 72.00 20.00 Luxembourg 7 100.00 17.00




59

Table A (continuation) Global literacy, education and poverty empirics for the year 2011

Country Rank Literacy Poverty Country Rank Literacy Poverty

Macedonia 54 97.30 30.90 South Africa 91 86.40 50.00

Madagascar 143 64.50 50.00 Spain 28 97.70 19.80

Malawi 144 74.80 53.00 Sri Lanka 105 91.20 8.90

Malaysia 58 88.70 3.80 Swaziland 116 81.60 69.00

Maldives 72 93.80 16.00 Sweden 2 99.00 6.00

Mali 145 31.10 36.10 Switzerland 10 99.00 6.90

Malta 26 92.80 15.00 Syria 96 79.60 11.90

Mauritania 136 58.00 40.00 Tanzania 139 69.40 36.00

Mauritius 74 88.50 8.00 Thailand 92 92.60 8.10

Mexico 79 86.10 51.30 Togo 134 60.90 32.00

Moldova 62 88.60 21.90 Tonga 100 98.90 24.00

Mongolia 84 97.40 39.20

Trinidad &

Tobago 61 98.60 17.00

Morocco 90 56.10 15.00 Tunisia 85 74.30 3.80

Mozambique 147 56.10 54.00 Turkey 69 87.40 16.90

Namibia 109 88.80 55.80 Turkmenistan 110 98.80 30.00

Nepal 137 60.30 25.20 Uganda 132 66.80 24.50

Netherlands 6 99.00 10.50 Ukraine 67 99.70 35.00

Nicaragua 113 67.50 46.20

United Arab

Emirates 45 77.90 19.50

Niger 155 28.70 63.00 United Kingdom 9 99.00 14.00

Nigeria 122 61.30 70.00 United States 15 99.00 15.10

Norway 13 100.00 4.50 Uruguay 50 98.00 18.60

Pakistan 127 54.90 22.30 Uzbekistan 102 99.30 26.00

Panama 66 91.90 29.00 Venezuela 77 93.00 27.40

Papua New

Guinea 142 57.30 37.00 Viet Nam 81 94.00 14.50

Paraguay 97 94.00 34.70 Yemen 126 63.90 45.20

Peru 86 92.90 31.51 Zambia 135 80.60 64.00

Philippines 94 92.60 26.50 Zimbabwe 115 90.70 68.00

Poland 31 99.50 17.00

Portugal 37 95.20 18.00

Romania 52 97.70 21.10

Russian

Federation 38 99.60 11.10

Rwanda 133 71.10 44.90

Senegal 124 39.30 54.00

Serbia 48 97.90 9.20

Slovakia 39 99.60 21.00

Slovenia 25 99.70 12.30

Source: International Telecommunication Union, Central Intelligence Agency, The world Factbook. Note: The

rank denotes the IDI country, ICT ranking, literacy rate and poverty rate are in percentage.

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