Research on the educational effects of school closure during the COVID-19 pandemic is abundant. Evidence from contexts where there has been an assessment of the impact of the replacement of onsite schools by online learning shows that education has been strongly affected by the pandemic. According to results from the United Kingdom (Nelson & Sharp, 2020), Belgium (Maldonado & De Witte, 2020), the Netherlands (Engzell et al, 2020) and Spain (Bonal and González, 2020; Arenas and Gortázar, 2022), learning losses have been widespread and especially intense among more disadvantaged students.
During the pandemic, some schools were able to adapt to the new circumstances with better means than others. Likewise, the structure and size of families’ forms of capital produced significant differences in the learning opportunities for children from different socioeconomic backgrounds.
According to main findings in research, the training has been weaker during the periods with closed schools (OECD, 2021). For students in schools with strict infection control measures, everyday school life has been characterized by more individual problem solving, less adapted education, less feedback from teachers and less cooperation and social activities. This has led to reduced motivation, especially for the students with specific needs.
- A survey among students in upper secondary education (in Oslo) shows that about half of the students were less motivated to learn during the shutdown, compared to when the school was open. A survey shows that several students have lost the motivation during the pandemic, and that they have less experience of mastery. Input from the sector also suggests that in periods of digital teaching the students have been less present during teaching (digital), their daily routines have been shifted, and too many have worked less well at school. It has varied how closely students have been followed-up from their school during the pandemic.
- Data from Barcelona shows that exposure to learning (both formal and non-formal) among children from lower income households was lower than their peers from higher-income families, which irremediably increases the existing learning gap between them (CEB, 2020; Bonal & González, 2021). Besides the individual and family characteristics, school system structure appears to have an important role on the understanding of educational inequalities during pandemic. Private schools established a more constant contact with their students and offered more teaching activities than public schools. Social composition of schools can explain these differences, being vulnerable children mainly concentrated in public schools.
Some students have experienced greater challenges than others’ have during the pandemic. It is reasonable to believe that the former are affected by a larger professional and social loss today. The duration of the pandemic has been tiring on both students and teachers, and there is a risk that more people are affected by its negative consequences.
- An expert group in Oslo believes that this can apply to individual students in a class and larger groups of students, such as students in initial training, students in a transition situation, students in upper secondary education, newly arrived students, and students in special education.
- Both available research and experience show that it has been difficult to provide special education as planned during the pandemic period. A consequence of the measures implemented to control Covid infection in schools was the lack of attention to pupils with special needs and the difficulties to offer adapted teaching. In several cases, the students have not received the special education that was planned for them, both regarding scope and content. Reduced services from support staff and extra challenges with digital teaching has made training very demanding for students with great need for help and support.
As an example, students with special needs related to language reduced their opportunities to learn.
- Pupils in Norway have a legal right to special language instruction. Minority language students who do not have sufficient skills in Norwegian to follow regular training had an additional challenging situation during the pandemic. They have lost both linguistic, professional and social learning. These students are already in a challenging school situation due to weak Norwegian skills. This also affected participation and learning, and many schools, teachers and students describe that this group had weaker support during the pandemic. 25 percent of the students who have been allocated hours for special Norwegian language training, received fewer hours than normal in the spring of 2021. The proportion is about the same for students with decisions about bilingual vocational training and / or mother tongue training.
- In the Catalan case, data show that only 7% of the children of vulnerable families speak Catalan at home. The pandemic situation could have led to a loss in language competencies in Catalan, which is the language of instruction of Catalan schools.
Particular concern has been towards students that are in the transition between primary and secondary school, and between junior high school and high school. These students may have experienced extra-large social and professional losses.
- Input from the organizations (in Norway), show that students who started upper secondary school or upper secondary education in the autumn 2020, in some cases do not know their classmates or met all their teachers. Belonging and well-being are fundamental to learning, and these students may be extra vulnerable in the present situation.
- In Oslo, the social aspects of the transition from kindergarten to school were taken less care of because students do not have as much contact with the school in advance as they normally would. For some, school start activities in kindergarten have been more difficult to carry out due to the pandemic. Less contact gives greater needs to transfer information between kindergarten and school in another way. Less contact before starting school makes it more important to stimulate belonging to the community, for example through emphasis on inclusive play. In the transition between primary and secondary stages the school will be in contact in order to discover students with lack of basic skills, vulnerable students, students with weak social network and students who has had a lot of absences. Knowledge of these factors from previous school the new school and the teachers will be better prepared and able to adjust according to the students’ needs.
POLICIES
Policy 1.1 Summer School Plan [Milano]
Goals of the program | Two schools have benefited from the financing of 2021 Summer School Plan, with the goal of accompanying the school institutions in organizing and managing the initiatives to reinforce and enhance the disciplinary and relational skills of students, recovering the sociability lost during the school closure and guide students towards the new school year. In particular, the Plan foreseen is:
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Target | Children in two schools IC Cardarelli-Massaua (DS: Manfredo Tortoreto), IC Arcadia (DS: Giampaolo Bovio). |
Governance | The Summer School Plan has been promoted and financed by the Ministry of Education [Italy] The planning of the initiatives and their implementation was in charge of schools that could involve their staff, but also other actors (local actors, public or private institutions, third sector…) |
Resources | The Summer School Plan has been financed by the Ministry of the Education. In particular, funds were broken down as follows:
In addition, schools could activate specific project, using a free crowdfunding platform (IDEArium) provided by the Ministry of Education. |
Description | The 2021 Summer School Plan is articulated into three phases: -Phase 1 (June): reinforcement and strengthening of the disciplinary and relational skills; -Phase 2 (July and August): reinforcement and strengthening of disciplinary and relational skills; -Phase 3 (September): introduction to the new school year
In the first phase (June) it was possible to make the following initiatives happen: orientation activities, laboratories, activities linked to the knowledge of the territories and local traditions, meeting of professions and third sector realities (promoting the cooperative approach among students, especially those more at risk of dropping out).
The second phase (July and August) foresaw the following actions:
In the third phase (September) it was possible to realize:
The articulation of the Plan represented a reference that could be adapted to the phase of implementation from the single schools, enhancing the contextual peculiarities.
One school has received 40.000 euros and it has organized totally free summer camps, from June to September, that have involved children from households in economic and cultural distress, and also disabled children. For these children, an educator was provided by the Municipality of Milan. The other school has organized several activities: free labs (theatre, art, rap, science and applied sciences, dance, vegetable garden), a lab for guiding students towards the next school year, a psychological desk, and a pedagogical desk. |
Achievement / Criticalities | Are yet to be done. |
Possible negative implications | Not expected. |
Material | Ministry of Education, Piano Scuola Estate: Un ponte per un nuovo inizio, the document is available for the download at: |
Policy 1.2 Summer School [Oslo]
Description | Since 2006, the Education Agency and the City of Oslo have arranged summer schools for children and young people in the city. The purpose of the Oslo Summer School is for all students to learn something new, meet academic challenges and have good experiences in a safe and social environment. |
Goals of the program | The summer offer planned under the auspices of the Oslo School in the summer of 2022 is the most comprehensive offer ever given, with a total of over 23,700 offered student places, distributed at the Oslo Summer School and locally arranged summer offers. In addition, work is being done to strengthen the “summer school profile” at AKS. There will also be academic summer courses for students in VG3. The starting point for the teaching is fun and practical activities and tasks that encourage collaboration, mastery and learning. Oslo Summer School uses the classroom, the schoolyard, the school’s local environment and the city as a learning arena. |
Target | The targets for the summer school are pupils and students in primary (Grade 1-7), lower secondary (8-10) and in upper secondary (11-13). For 1st to 7th grade, there are 32 different courses at 41 health resorts across the city. |
Governance | Local summer offers at the schools. All schools with grades 5. – 10. can apply for funding to arrange local summer activities for their students. The offers are designed by the schools and will give as many students as possible an arena where they can participate in academic, social and cultural activities during the school’s summer holidays. It is planned that these will mainly be carried out in August. |
Resources | About 58 million NOK has been set aside for summer school offers this year, 16 million of these in a revised budget. |
Achievement / Criticalities | Haven’t been done yet |
Possible negative implications | Not expected |
Material |
Policy 1.3 Free Access to Activity School [Oslo]
Goals of the program | Access to the activity school is one of the most important measures to reduce social segregation in the city To increase the participation in the activity school, especially in some city districts with low participation |
Target | Segregated city districts and schools in these districts. Vulnerable children in non-segregated schools |
Governance | National Local authorities Schools |
Resources | National programs to support local school owners A targeted investment by the city Council over several years |
Description | In some districts, the participation in activity school (grade 1-4) was below 30%. After the introduction of free access, participation increased to almost 100%. After the introduction of the offer in some of the most deprived city districts, from 2020 it is a general offer for all children in the city. In 2020 17.500 children received a place free of charge. At the same time for three districts, it was free also for 1-4th grade. In 2022 all children in grades 1 and 2 get free access to activity school, counting more than 20.000 children. |
Achievement / Criticalities | Free activity school is an important measure to ensure inclusion, combat differences and facilitate learning for all children. The city council will at the same time raise the quality of AKS. A total of NOK 10 million is proposed to expand the collaboration with the Cultural School, to ensure increased competence among employees through more specialist qualifications and stricter language requirements. The city council has also focus on providing healthy and nutritious food in AKS. |
Possible negative implications | Stigmatization Schools/user groups does not want to be identified as segregates/vulnerable – reverse results. |
Material | Link to website https://www.oslo.kommune.no/skole-og-utdanning/aktivitetsskolen/hva-er-aktivitetsskolen/ |
Policy 1.4 Programa de millora de les oportunitats educatives (The Educational Opportunities Improvement Plan) [Barcelona]
Goals of the program | To alleviate the unfavorable effects of suspending the present collective activity during the last quarter of the 2019-2020 course, and that addresses the Education Service of Catalonia’s centers with more educational complexity. |
Target | Students of the 516 primary and primary education and secondary schools of the Education Service of Catalonia with more educational complexity, derived from the disadvantaged socioeconomic conditions of the students, according to the latest complexity study of the Board of Governors of the Educative System Assessment prepared in 2020. |
Governance | Catalan Government |
Resources | The plan is based, as a strategic axis for its success, on the principle of the autonomy of educational establishments and on the Community dimension of education. This is why provision is made for resources to be provided to educational establishments through a co-responsibility agreement, signed between the centers and the Department of Education, and the incorporation of measures to strengthen the educational plans of the environment, as a strategy to strengthen the equity of the Catalan educational system. |
Description | The educational opportunities improvement plan consists of 17 measures, which are divided into four areas of action: Scope 1. Reducing economic barriers Scope 2. Accompaniment, motivation and support for students, and reinforcement of educational care Scope 3. Family accompaniment, involvement and participation Scope 4. Community educational action and educational opportunities beyond school |
Achievement / Criticalities | Evaluations (haven’t taken place yet) |
Possible negative implications | |
Material | https://educacio.gencat.cat/ca/departament/linies-estrategiques/pla-millora-oportunitats-educatives/ |
Policy 1.5 Reinforced resources to strengthen services for children and young people and strengthened education in schools because of the pandemic [Oslo]
Description | In the Oslo City’s budget for 2022 it is a high priority to reduce the negative effects of the corona pandemic as much as possible. This is about maintaining a stable and robust financial framework for schools, districts and others businesses with services aimed at children and young people, and to implement compensatory measures. |
Goals of the program | To reduce the consequences of the pandemic is among the highest priorities for the schools in Oslo. |
Target | |
Governance | The City Council set in the revised budget 2021 of 142.5 million NOK more fund for coronary repair to deal with the long-term damaging effects of the corona pandemic in 2022 and 2023, which will counteract and correct the damaging effects the pandemic has inflicted on us. The funds is used, among other things to strengthen primary school, increase implementation in upper secondary school, strengthen health stations, and increase staffing in kindergarten. |
Resources | NOK 160 million is granted at vulnerable students. The grant aims to make up for lost education and learning as a result of closed schools. 70 million NOK to even out differences between the municipalities when it applies to digital home education, and 500 million NOK for summer (primary) school in the summer of 2021. The government increased the transfers in the state budget for 2021. The city council increased the allocation to primary and lower secondary schools by 72.5 million NOK. All schools received at least 300,000 NOK. Schools in areas exposed to challenging living conditions receive the most. One school has, for example, used the funds for environmental work, extended homework help, follow-up of individual students and various social measures such as open school during holidays and a social club in the afternoon. |
Achievement / Criticalities | In the revised budget for 2021, a total of 25 million NOK was allocated for activities during holidays, weekends and evenings, strengthening training and improved motivation in primary and secondary school. In addition, 45 million NOK was allocated for use in 2022 and 2023:
The schools have initiated school-related initiatives and social measures, eg professional support in the evenings, on weekends, during the autumn / winter holidays and strengthening of the school’s environmental team. Some examples from some schools:
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Possible negative implications | |
Material | Oslo budget 2022: https://www.oslo.kommune.no/politikk/budsjett-regnskap-og-rapportering/budsjett-2022/budsjettforslag-2022-og-okonomiplan-2022-2025/#gref |
Policy 1.6 Outdoor classrooms [Milano]
Goals of the program | One school has created outdoor classrooms in order to reach two goals: – avoid the flattening of the frontal class and continue with the Montessori approach already applied in the school – promote the inclusion of children in vulnerable conditions |
Target | The school has a very high presence of disabled children (80) and children with special needs (250) and an elevated number of children, not only foreigners, in condition of vulnerability (children living in residential structures for minors or belonging to refugee households). The creation of an outdoor classroom has facilitated the inclusion of these groups. |
Governance | The initiative has been promoted and implemented by the school itself. |
Resources | The school has directly founded this initiative |
Description | In September 2020, when schools were opened, the principal, in accordance with the responsible for the security, created some classrooms in the school garden. These outdoor rooms were created through camping-kits bought by the school itself at IKEA. |
Achievement / Criticalities | — |
Possible negative implications | — |
Material | — |