Excellence in education can be achieved when there is equity. Students who do not have access to adequate learning environment fall behind their peers who do. The digital divide in India is an economic and social reality that requires pertinent attention, which if not addressed, will lead to economic, social and gender inequalities in the long run. With the dynamic and technologically transforming domain of knowledge and digital integration, Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in India has evolved to revolutionise the educational sector in general and school education in particular (Bansal and Choudhary, 2024). Undeniably, the digital divide in this sector widened unprecedentedly amidst the COVID-19 pandemic and its consequent online education requirements (Blundell et al., 2020; Reddy et al., 2020). An effective remote learning process requires students to have necessary electronic gadgets and stable internet connectivity; which otherwise would lead to glaring disparities in quality education between the haves and have-nots (Kulal et al., 2024; Azevedo et al., 2020).
As such, the present study intends to explore the digital divide on the education sector in India in the context of Covid-19 pandemic. The study focuses on high school students in government and private sectors in urban and rural areas of Ludhiana, Punjab. Specifically, we examine the impact of access to internet connectivity and adequate gadgets on the educational outcomes, classroom participation and performance of students. We also analyse the relationship between access to technology and academic accomplishment among students. Lastly, we examine if the outlay by the authorities to tide over the challenges are effective. All necessary data are collected from the heads of schools and class-teachers across Ludhiana through a combination of questionnaire and interview methods. With better infrastructure, access to ICT and well-equipped teachers, the private school students are expected to be better off compared to their counterparts