Limited access to education in a pandemic context and the risk of school failure of adolescents from vulnerable environments

Abstract

Our paper addresses a critical issue, regarding the access of disadvantaged adolescents to education, during the Covid-19 pandemic. Adolescents from vulnerable families, generally from rural areas, faced many of the repercussions of restrictions imposed in order to stop the spread of coronavirus. Financial, family or health problems prevent them from adapting to changes in education, and their needs increased along with the restrictions. Failure and school dropout it were before the pandemic alarming phenomenon, that have increased in the last year, 2020-2021. The need for an internet connection and having an electronic device to continue studying is too high a requirement for many students from disadvantaged families and areas. In order to decrease those effects, some organizations and associations have developed projects and programs to facilitate access for vulnerable young people to a fair education, but these were sporadic and did not cover all the identified needs.

To carry out the research, we developed a questionnaire addressed to 30 adolescents identified with vulnerabilities, aged between 14 and 18 years The collection and processing of the results of the questionnaire was to highlight the educational level of students before and during the pandemic, access to technology and other forms of remedial education of respondents, the family situation and their perception of discrimination due to poverty and lack of resources