According to UC scientists, distance learning may increase inequalities in basic and secondary education

With the start of the third school term with distance learning classes due to the Covid-19 pandemic, a group of researchers from the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences of the University of Coimbra (FPCEUC) draws attention to the aspects that must be taken into account so as not to reinforce inequalities in education.

Starting with an analysis of the guidelines for an educational response to the pandemic by Fernando Reimers (Harvard Graduate School of Education) and Andreas Schleicher (OECD Directorate of Education), Ana Maria Seixas, António Gomes Ferreira and Isabel Festas warn that «it is essential to realize that the current situation may further increase the inequalities that already exist in basic and secondary education. Widely recognized in the reality prior to COVID, inequalities in education can be greatly increased with the current physical and social withdrawal of students from school. Not only due to the possible lack of access to these means that can be greatly overcome with measures such as that of the Portuguese Government to increase programs through TV, but by the foreseeable demobilization and abandonment in a population that, as is known, will never have the same type of family support as the most privileged”.

In this context, the UC experts stress that "it is necessary to take immediate action, with follow-up and special support for the most vulnerable, but also to foresee action plans in the short term, when the return to school will be possible. These plans should include programmes to compensate for and regain lost or underachieved learning. It is a task that will require an enormous effort, but one that is worth investing in in order to prevent a situation that could be disastrous in terms of increasing inequalities".

Some of the measures defended by these researchers include the assessment of students in more vulnerable situations, the development of reward and performance programmes, and the recruitment of necessary teachers.

In what concerns the use of distance education and digital platforms, fully "justified in this exceptional situation", Ana Maria Seixas, António Gomes Ferreira and Isabel Festas claim that "the relevance given to them cannot serve to think of this moment as something to regenerate the future. Admitting that it is necessary to innovate in education, it is very important to realize that any renewal / innovation has to be considered in terms of optimal learning and socialization environments, necessarily reported in face-to-face ways, the only ones that allow sharing, cooperation between teachers, between students, between teachers and students and between all those involved in the educational process ”.

“Due to its nature and mission, teaching in basic and secondary education takes place in a collective and formative space, in which the creation of real and non-virtual learning communities is a condition for the achievement of its purposes. In this sense, digital and distance media, which can be used as resources, will never be a substitute for the presence in the school space of members of the educational community”, they explain.

Finally, the three researchers defend the crucial role of the University “as a space for the creation of knowledge that is indispensable for solving problems like the one we face. On the one hand, it is the development of research in several scientific areas that can bring the necessary solutions to the creation of vaccines and the treatment of diseases such as the one we are now faced with. On the other hand, it is thinking, as it is developed in the areas of social and human sciences, that can give us reading grids about what is going on, as well as pointing out the paths and ways to follow and to adopt”.

The document “A framework to guide an education response to the COVID-19 Pandemic of 2020”, by Reimers and Schleicher, identifies the aspects and areas that should be considered in plans designed to guarantee the continuity of education and learning in this new context, based on a needs assessment of 98 countries (including Portugal).