The aim of this article was to analyse the employability of currently enrolled secondary education (classes 9–12) students aged 14–21, specifically their functional digital skills. Digital skills are increasingly being recognised as a key foundational skill that also enhances employability. Gaining digital skills at the secondary education is important because it is one of the foundational skills that help prepare students transition to work and prepares them for life. There were three major objectives in this article: (a) to examine the trends and transitions in the acquisition of functional digital skills of currently enrolled secondary school Indian students according to their socio-economic and demographic profiles; (b) empirically investigate the factors influencing the acquisition of functional digital skills in urban areas and (c) examine whether the policy of providing schools with computers has had any discernible impact on the acquisition of functional digital skills of these students. Using the National Statistical Office 2017–2018 data on expenditure on education, we found that at the national level only 42% of the enrolled secondary school students had the ability to operate a computer and 46% had the ability to browse Internet in 2017–2018. The attainment of functional digital skills differed across rural and urban regions. The individual characteristics, socio-economic profile of households and school-related indicators were factors that explained the likelihood of students’ being equipped with functional digital skills. A key result was that students who had digital devices at home were more likely to have functional digital skills. The government had introduced computers in secondary schools in 2004 in India. We found evidence of a positive association between the provision of functional computers at secondary schools and attainment of digital skills, even for students from households with no computers at home. A key policy recommendation is that providing computers at schools can help overcome barriers to access to digital devices at home and improve the attainment of digital skills.

JEL Codes: I2, O15, O3

本文的目的是分析14-21岁年龄段的当前正在接受中等教育（9-12年级）的学生的就业能力，尤其是他们的数字功能技能。数字技能越来越被认为是一种重要的基础技能，也可以增强就业能力。在中学教育中获得数字技能很重要，因为它是帮助学生准备工作并为生活做好准备的基础技能之一。本文的三个主要目标是：（a）根据他们的社会经济和人口统计资料，研究当前在读的印度中学生的功能性数字技能获取的趋势和转变；（b）实证研究影响城市地区获得功能性数字技能的因素，以及（c）检查向学校提供计算机的政策是否对这些学生的功能性数字技能的获得产生了明显的影响。使用国家统计局2017-2018年的教育支出数据，我们发现，在国家一级，2017-2018年只有42％的在校中学生具有操作计算机的能力，而46％的人具有浏览互联网的能力。在农村和城市地区，实现数字功能的技能有所不同。个人特征，家庭的社会经济状况以及与学校相关的指标是解释学生具备数字功能技能的可能性的因素。一个关键的结果是，在家中拥有数字设备的学生更有可能具有实用的数字技能。政府于2004年在印度的中学引入了计算机。我们发现，即使对于那些在家中没有计算机的家庭中的学生，中学提供的功能计算机与数字技能的获得之间也存在积极的联系。一项重要的政策建议是，在学校提供计算机可以帮助克服在家中使用数字设备的障碍，并提高数字技能的获得水平。我们发现，即使对于那些在家中没有计算机的家庭中的学生，中学提供的功能计算机与数字技能的获得之间也存在积极的联系。一项重要的政策建议是，在学校提供计算机可以帮助克服在家中使用数字设备的障碍，并提高数字技能的获得水平。我们发现，即使对于那些在家中没有计算机的家庭中的学生，中学提供的功能计算机与数字技能的获得之间也存在积极的联系。一项重要的政策建议是，在学校提供计算机可以帮助克服在家中使用数字设备的障碍，并提高数字技能的获得水平。

JEL代码： I2，O15，O3