ICT IN DEVELOPMENT: INTRODUCTION
2.7 Role and Potential of ICT in the Development of Youth
Youth plays and important role in the social development process. Slogans that portray youth as future leaders, hope of the nation etc., clearly shows the importance of youth in development. The society in general sees youth as a group that participates actively in community activities. This reflects the tremendous potential of youth. The emergence of information and communications technology has placed youth as a group of people with an important role in national development. However at the same time, the failure of this group to participate in the use and development of information and communications technology may result in them being excluded or marginalized.
Mohd Zaidi Aizz (2002) stated that in the era of globalization, post-modernism and the development of information and communications technology, there is a need for individuals to progress and move forward, to master information and knowledge. The love for knowledge, a culture of discussing and love for reading must be encouraged among youth so as to develop their thinking capacity or the ability to think accurately. The phenomenon of a weak foundation in knowledge, creativity and intellectual capacity, has resulted in the failure of youth to understand their own problems and problems faced within society. This resulted in the implementation of programs, training and development projects that does not meet the set targets and fail to address the symptoms or actual problems. Even though a lot of money has been spent, the problems remain unsolved because the funds had been wrongly channeled.
Youth is a very complex phase of human development. Therefore it is very difficult to give it an accurate definition. In Malaysia, youth refers to those belonging to the age group of 15 to 40, as stated in the National Policy on Youth Development. In the year 2000, the country has a youth population of 4.37 million, comprising 20 per cent of the country’s overall population. The population of youth is increasing at the rate of 2.6 per cent per year and is expected to reach 4.98 per cent by 2005. The objective of National Policy of Youth in Development is to create Malaysian youth possessing uniform positive personal qualities in terms of their spiritual, physical and mental development and at the same time responsible, independent, willing to volunteer and patriotic. They would act as the catalyst for the nation, religion and country’s continued prosperity and progress in line with Vision 2020.
Since independence, youth have played an important role and contributed towards nation building and the development of the country. This contribution covers all aspects of politics, economic, social, culture and education. Youth are not only future leaders, they are also the leaders of today and this is proven from the point of view of consumerism, and the development of information and communications. Information and communications technology is an important topic for the youth generation. The future of the youth generation depends on the increasing role of technology in their daily life. In this country, the youth generation is the receivers and early adaptors of information and communications technology and the number of youth online is more than any other group. Many youth of today use information and communications technology not only for their social activities but also to further their political and economic interests. At present, many among the youth realize the importance and advantages of information and communications technology. Compared to the older generation who has difficulty in participating in the new economy, youth are always comfortable with new approaches and new paradigms of thinking.
Despite the higher level of awareness and increased use of information and communications technology among youth, a considerable number of them are still marginalized. They are the ones that live in the suburbs and rural areas, youth from poor families and the disabled. There are several factors that cause these groups to be marginalized and these are lack of infrastructure to allow youth to gain access, inability to master the English Language – the main language of information and communications technology, no basic skills, lack of exposure and opportunity for them to use information and communications technology. Even among those who have been successful in using information and communications technology, their fullest potential had not been realized.
This is due to the absence of a comprehensive program. The existing information and communications technology program do not really meet the needs of this group. The lack of coordination in the implementation of a project, lack of focus on content development activities that would benefit youth and also lack of youth related activities through information and communications technology are among the reasons for this failure. This resulted in youth not being fully utilized, creating an even wider digital divide among youth and thus leaving a huge implication on the social and economic development of society.
It continues to be the fervent hope of many parties to see youth of all age groups get involved and benefit from the advantages of information and communications technology. More youth from the urban and rural areas including the physically handicapped, female youth and those from the lower income groups would benefit from information and communications technology. In line with these aspirations, the role of youth should be given its due emphasis. Youth should participate in voluntary activities where those who are already familiar with information and communications technology should come forward to help others within this category who are less skilled in order to improve their quality of life.