Infections, reduced hours and didactics: parents’ concern about going back to school

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Uncertainty and concern are the feelings with which parents and children face the reopening of the school after the long closure that has kept them away from the classrooms due to the Covid-19 pandemic. With more serious repercussions in the most fragile families: one parent in 10 believes that they cannot afford to buy all the school books, 2 in 10 parents fear that they can no longer afford the cost of the school cafeteria. These are some of the results of a survey commissioned by Save the Children and carried out by Ipsos between August 4 and 18 that appears in the report “The school to come: expectations, uncertainties and dreams at the beginning of the new school year”

The main concerns

Overall, looking ahead to the new year, 7 out of 10 parents say they are worried about going back to school; The main one is given by the uncertainty about the recovery methods (60%), followed by the risks related to the lack of physical distance (51%) and therefore by the possible variations in the time of entry / exit from school that they may not be compatible with parental commitments (37%), especially for parents of children aged 4-6 years (45%). In this case, grandparents, for those who have them, once again become the pillar of family well-being, for 22% of the parents interviewed. Even quitting work or reducing working hours seems to be one of the options for families, particularly those with younger children: a choice that, however, confirming once again the gender gap in our country, would fall mainly on mothers (14%) more than fathers (2%).

Learning difficulties

Among the main concerns that families face when the school year is resumed, there is also apprehension linked to learning difficulties, after long months of confinement and a summer that was not the same for everyone. opportunity to recover the so-called learning loss. Although nearly all were admitted to the next grade without debt, nearly 1 in 5 parents (18%) believe their child is unprepared for the program because of the learning loss resulting from the conditions imposed by the confinement.

Family choices

The first effects of this situation are felt in the children’s choices regarding their course of study: 8% of the parents interviewed stated that their child thought about enrolling in secondary school but, due to the economic difficulties caused by the the family goes through, he has chosen a vocational school. “We need schools that are safe, open all day, welcoming to those facing the greatest difficulties and capable of coping with present and future crises. Today’s reopening is still full of uncertainties, but it is a challenge in which all energy and resources must be invested ”, explains Raffaela Milano, director of Save the Children’s Italy-Europe Programs.

The decrease in economic resources

It is necessary to respond to the strong risk that child poverty and early school leaving will increase, after the educational blackout that has affected so many students who have not been able to access distance education. The voice of parents collected in the IPSOS survey confirms this alarm, in relation to the decrease in financial resources to support study paths. The success or failure of the entire recovery policy of the country will be measured in terms of the rate of school dropout and educational poverty. «Italy – underlines Save the Children in its report – even before the crisis it presented a critical panorama regarding school failure, dispersion and child poverty. Our country spends around 4% of GDP on education and universities (latest data available, 2018) compared to 4.6% of the EU average “.« The National Plan “Next Generation” that the Italian government is about to Presenting Europe should also aim to overcome the digital educational poverty of schools and students, which emerged with all its evidence in the confinement phase, ”says Raffaela Milano.