Inter-Provincial Disparities in Students’ ICT Use in Indonesia: Insights for Digital Education Management

Digital transformation in education requires equitable student access to information and communication technology (ICT), yet conditions differ between regions. This study analysed inter-provincial disparity in ICT use among students in Indonesia and discussed its potential implications for digital education management. It was a descriptive analysis of secondary, aggregate provincial statistics from the 2025 Education Statistics, based on the March 2025 National Socio-Economic Survey (Susenas). Three indicators for students aged 5–23 years were examined: use of mobile phones, computers or laptops, and the internet. Descriptive statistics comprised the mean across provinces, standard deviation, minimum, maximum, and range. Disparity was largest for internet use (range 84.18 percentage points; standard deviation 16.32), followed by mobile phone use (76.48; 14.76) and computer or laptop use (35.51; 6.98). Mobile phone and internet data covered 38 provinces, whereas computer or laptop data covered 37 because no value was available for Papua Pegunungan. DI Yogyakarta ranked highest on all three indicators, and the lowest values were concentrated in the Papua region, suggesting that disparities cluster in specific regions. Computer or laptop use was low in nearly every province and showed the greatest relative dispersion. Interpreted through the UNESCO Six Pillars for the Digital Transformation of Education, the findings suggest that planning should be regionally differentiated and should treat devices separately from connectivity, given the differing types of devices required for different learning activities. District-level data are needed to confirm these implications.