Does the inequality of educational opportunities in primary education increase with the school closure due to the coronavirus?

Abstract

The educational schools in Spain have been closed since mid-March 2020. Students will not return to class for the remainder of the course. Online teaching, with differential implantation by type of families, centers and regions, replaces in this period face-to-face teaching in schools. INE data shows the existence of a digital family and territorial gap in Spain that has been highlighted by educational authorities, unions and organizations. International organizations such as UNESCO, UNICEF, OECD and OEI have recently recommended, as a consequence of the coronavirus pandemic, the development of inclusive educational policies that solve the problems derived from the lack of resources in homes to monitor the telematic teaching. They have also warned that the obstacles are not only digital, but that families with less education have more difficulties in helping their children with school tasks at home. Thus, in this context of school closure, the family gap is another handicap for inclusive policies of school integration on an equal footing for culturally disadvantaged families. This article shows that the closure of schools in Primary Education enlarges the inequality of educational opportunities in open schools and that the negative effect is especially evident in families with lower sociocultural and socioeconomic capital and, under these variables, more still, in single-parent homes.