Covid-19 widens the education gap between rich and poor students

As the Covid-19 pandemic hit Brazil, schools were the first establishments to close. Now, over a month into social isolation measures, the stark inequality of the country has created two parallel realities for children and teenagers of school-going age. In private education, students are trying to adapt to having classes remotely and facing tons of homework, while children from public schools face the challenge of learning alone, and maintaining nutrition without their free school lunches. 

While the entire country has been deeply affected by the harsh break in routines, education is set to be one of the sectors that will carry the lasting effects of the pandemic for a long time. On April 1, the Jair Bolsonaro administration issued a provisional decree that suspends the obligation of having 200 days in the school year, as long as schools provide a minimum of 800 hours required by law. Consulted by The Brazilian Report, Education Ministry representatives said it will be up to each institution to define their norms and scheduling. 

Without common guidelines, the disparity in availability of resources between schools starts to show. While private institutions have been able to partner with online services such Microsoft Teams to keep up with coursework, public schools have to deal with the socio-economic challenges of many of their students, whose parents lost their income and often do not have access to computers or internet at home. 

According to information published on the Education Ministry’s website, remote learning activities may be adopted during the pandemic and considered as part of the year’s coursework, as long as they are authorized by state or municipal authorities. 

“States, municipalities, and private institutions must work to provide access to education for all students. (…) Schools must adopt...