Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic has affected all areas of life, including everyday working life. Apprentices are often affected two-fold by the lockdown—school closures make it difficult to learn the theoretical content, while restrictions in the company affect practical work. This article reports the findings of an online mixed-method survey among 167 apprentices on the impacts of the pandemic on dual vocational training in Germany. In the survey, Likert scales were presented visually in a way that was particularly suitable for adolescents. The results show that the schools have had gaps in terms of equipment and online instruction. There was little or no online teaching, and the apprentices had hardly any contact with teachers and were left to work on the material on their own. The majority of apprentices expected their school performance to deteriorate as a consequence of the pandemic. The individual comments in response to open-ended questions also suggest that the digital offerings of vocational schools were inadequate during the first lockdown. At the same time, there were major differences in individual hardware equipment, such as computers, and in the apprentices’ Internet access. The gender differences are particularly interesting, as women tended to be at a disadvantage.
Highlights
Javier Cifuentes-Faura, Since its onset in 2020, the global spread of the coronavirus has fundamentally changed lives
The aim of this paper is to provide an overview of how vocational school teachers implemented digital teaching during the first school closure, what the technical equipment used by the young people was like, and whether there were different consequences in terms of academic performance for certain groups
These analyses indicate a significant disadvantage for apprentices with between the vocational school and company during school closure is new and was not Turkish mother tongue with respect to the expected change in academic performance due included in the closed questions
Summary
Javier Cifuentes-Faura, Since its onset in 2020, the global spread of the coronavirus has fundamentally changed lives. Prior to the coronavirus pandemic, the main focus for promoting digitization was on the students’ digital skills and the school infrastructure, whereas digital equipment at home played a subordinate role [3]. Due to this insufficiency, the question arises as to what extent digital instruction took place during the first school closure and the extent to which students were adequately equipped for digital distance learning. It is important to investigate whether certain groups of people are less equipped than others, which may lead to (increasing) educational inequality [3,4]. The proportion of lower-performing students is especially high among students with insufficient technical equipment [6]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
