Page 5 - IDEA Nerovnosti ve vzdelavani COVID19 kveten2020 18

PANDEMIE COVID-19 A SOCIÁLNĚ-EKONOMICKÉ NEROVNOSTI VE VZDĚLÁVÁNÍ IDEA 2020
IDEA anti COVID-19 # 18
The Covid-19 pandemic and
socio-economic inequality in education2 MAY 2020
Miroslava Federičová, Václav Korbel
Summary
• In response to the Covid-19 pandemic, schools have been closed since 11th March 2020 and have been obliged to switch to remote teaching. This new situation may, among other effects, further deepen the considerable existing inequalities in education, which are already higher in the Czech Republic than in most other European countries. In this study, we look at various factors that may affect how remote teaching can be related to socioeconomic educational inequalities in the Czech Republic. For the sake of clarity, we distinguish between factors relevant to schools, families, and pupils. The aim of this study is not to describe the current situation but to outline who is most at risk of losing out as a result of remote teaching and where possible measures should be targeted in order to prevent deepening inequalities in education further. In this study, we focus on primary and lower secondary schools, with an emphasis on the lower secondary years.
• Schools: Only a small proportion of schools were technically prepared to face up to the demands of remote teaching. Only 19 % of primary schools had an online school information system that could be accessed by parents and pupils, while 50 % at most used some kind of online teaching platform.
• Teachers: In terms of ICT skills, fewer than half of all teachers were prepared for teaching remotely, which is below the average across OECD countries. Moreover, almost a quarter of teachers lack mutual support from their colleagues, in particular when introducing new ideas in school. However, these factors – which are essential for a smooth, swift transition to remote teaching – are not substantially different in schools with higher proportions of pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds. That said, schools in socially disadvantaged areas do suffer from
2 This study represents the authors’ own views and not the official position of the Czech Academy of Sciences’ Economics Institute nor of the Charles University Centre for Economic Research and Graduate Education (CERGE). We are grateful to Jiří Kuhn, Filip Pertold, Daniel Münich and to our EDUin colleagues Karl Gargulák, Miroslav Hřebecký and Kateřiná Lánská for their valuable comments and advice. We also thank PAQ and the Czech Schools Inspectorate for providing us with data. Any inaccuracies or errors are the authors’ responsibility. The study was produced with support from the Czech Academy of Sciences as part of its AV21 Strategy programme, from the Experientia Foundation and from the Česká Spořitelna Foundation.
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