Unequal Educational Opportunities During the Covid-19 Pandemic: On Long- Distance Teaching and Early Tracking in Italy

The Covid-19 pandemic radically changed learning approaches by introducing long-distance teaching methods that are being applied both partially or completely. However, this emergency solution has not allowed everyone access to primary and secondary education and has resulted in various forms of discomfort due to students’ socio-economic and cultural backgrounds. This contribution aims to demonstrate how long-distance teaching has produced different effects in the diverse pathways of study within the Italian school system which is based on early tracking and is characterized by the persistence of social reproduction mechanisms that have long been called attention to. In order to highlight how long-distance learning has been experienced differently by technical, vocational, and liceo students, an exploratory qualitative study focused on different upper secondary pathways within some schools in Tuscany was carried out. From the data collected, it was revealed that the greatest difficulties were encountered by students from low-SES families mostly concentrated in vocational schools. The pandemic emergency, therefore, seems to have further underscored the relational and educational needs of the most disadvantaged students. Overcoming an educational system based on early tracking could be a first necessary response to dealing with these problems.