Rural youths lagging behind

Tanaka Mahanya

THE growing disparity in access to information technology has severely disadvantaged children and youths living in rural areas.

The world has rapidly become a global village with most information being shared on social media platforms.

Children growing up in rural areas do not have access to new media.

Speaking at a National Youth Conference, Shamva North Member of Parliament, Oscar Gorerino, said rural youths were being left out in the empowerment programmes.

“Rural youths do not have access to social media platforms where they can interact and associate with others.

“They do not have access to gadgets as well as the internet.

“The rural set-up does not allow them to access services which are often offered to youths in urban areas.

“There are a lot of opportunities in urban areas which are not presented to youths in rural areas.”

He said they also have cases of children who are abused and do not report because they fear their elders.

The Covid-19 era also affected the studies of rural students as they had no access to information online.