Closing digital divides through Facebook? Insights from Low-Fee Private Schools in Pakistan

• In Event: Digital technologies and initiatives supporting education during the COVID-19 pandemic

Proposal

Low-Fee Private Schools (LFPS) predate public education in the countries where they are found. In the Pakistani context, LFPS can be understood as a community-based solution to public educational supply gaps. They may be established on the upper floor of a residential building. Many are unregistered and hire teachers who can be less qualified than those found in public schools. It is due to these features that they are vehemently contested in the academic and policy literature (Bajwa, 2024). Yet, they are often the only source of education in certain contexts. In Rawalpindi, an urban center in Punjab, Pakistan, while conducting fieldwork, I found 8 private educational institutions (pre-K to college; tuition centers) for one public institution. According to unofficial estimates, as of 2023, private schools outnumber public schools in the country.

Yet, during the Covid-19 pandemic, LFPS closed in urban centers of Pakistan in considerable numbers. They were unable to provide online learning opportunities, and parents stopped paying school fees. During data collection, I learned that the majority of LFPS (13 out of 17) participating in the research that survived the pandemic had active Facebook pages. To this end, I engaged in an artifact analysis under which 18,908 artifacts (photos) posted on the Facebook pages of LFPS between 17 September 2012 and March 23, 2023 were reviewed. Through this, I answered the following research questions: 1) If at all, how do LFPS leverage Facebook? 2) What is the nature of the content posted by LFPS on the platform.

The first round of analysis focused on identifying dominant themes along which pictures could be grouped. Here, I considered text accompanying the pictures. The pictures were then examined systematically and synthesized on the basis of a picture family theme. Then, the first picture for a given theme was downloaded, and a description was noted in the file name. Once the pictures were systematically categorized, they were uploaded on AtlasTI and inductively coded. The final count for analyzed pictures was 1,343.

The artifact analysis revealed several important findings. Firstly, Facebook emerged as a core means of communication with parents and marketing for LFPS. LFPS utilize this platform to convey upcoming exam dates and school closures. They also use it to show parents of enrolled students how students engage in extracurricular activities. Arguably, by opening the privacy settings of these photos to public, these posts serve a secondary aim of marketing. For example, LFPS publicized test scores of students in large-scale assessments. Yet, it remains unclear whether parents or students consented to pictures of students being uploaded on Facebook.

Secondly, one school in the low-income neighborhood utilized Facebook during the pandemic to deliver online learning. Here, the school owner recorded lessons on his mobile phone for secondary school students and uploaded them on Facebook. Yet, the vast majority of LFPS in the area did not follow this school owner’s lead. This may indicate that due to the socioeconomic context in which they operate, perhaps parents did not have sufficient access to Facebook to facilitate learning. This means that while families may be able to afford data costs for viewing Facebook posts, they are not able to afford mobile data costs required to view videos. Nonetheless, even the LFPS that did not utilize Facebook to deliver lessons utilized it to maintain engagement with parents through posts. For the LFPS that survived, Facebook may then have been a critical tool to keep parents engaged so that when schools reopened, parents re-admitted children to the same institutions.

Thirdly, the artifact analysis revealed the socialization function that schools serve, and how it is reinforced through Facebook. A considerable number of religious posts were circulated by LFPS providing parents and students tips on living life according to Islamic principles. Pakistan is home to a deeply religious society, and LFPS reinforces on Facebook their role as purveyors of religious norms and values.

Finally, related to the socialization function, it was revealed that LFPS reinforce traditional gender roles. Whereas cooking classes were offered to girls in the low-income neighborhood, boys partook in karate classes. These classes were not offered to girls in the low-income neighborhood. In the mixed-income neighborhood, I learned that an LFPS offered karate classes to girls under a female instructor. However, the price point for this institution, at $24 USD, was much higher than the price point at the low-income neighborhood institutes, which reinforced traditional gender roles ($8.89 to $11). In general, institutions charging a higher price point were more likely to include both girls and boys in the same extracurricular activities. There are two interpretations for this finding. First, as Facebook is used as a marketing tool, this could indicate that there is a demand for traditional gender roles in the low-income context. Alternatively, LFPS in low-income institutions do not have the financial bandwidth or resources to offer both boys and girls certain extracurriculars.

While Facebook is leveraged as a communication and marketing tool, LFPS in the low-income neighborhoods, with one exception, were not able to implement digital learning during the pandemic. This indicates that while families may have a mobile phone, they might be unable to afford data costs associated with online learning on digital platforms when video streaming is required. This explains how and why digital divides persist in low-income settings. Yet, parents and schools maintained communication through this platform, explaining how it can reduce digital divides when leveraged adequately. Digital divides will, however, persist unless affordable data options are made available. As more educational institutions begin utilizing social media platforms, regulations may need to be set at the state level to foster the practice of obtaining explicit consent from students and families prior to posting content containing students.

Author

• Wajeeha Hazoor, Florida State University