The challenges of distance learning in Italy: new inequalities and implications for inclusive education

Abstract

ABSTRACT The lack of professional training, information and communication technology infrastructure, and digital assets meant that the provision of public education in Italy was profoundly challenged by the shift to distance learning prompted by lockdowns and school closures due to COVID-19. The substitution of in-presence attendance with virtual classes affected schools’ capacity to effectively provide instructional time and imposed high participation barriers on students. The subsequent loss of learning time was disproportionate for Italian students, penalising socioeconomically-disadvantaged students, who lacked resources to access distance learning, with greater educational losses. The education sector’s response to the first pandemic wave generated winners and losers, thus deepening educational inequalities and jeopardising the inclusiveness of public schooling. This study explores the effect of the public education’s response to the pandemic on instructional time, singling out group-specific losses linked to distance learning and infrastructural deficiencies, and its implications for educational losses.