Early childhood, education, and social assistance in the COVID-19 era

Abstract

Abstract: The social distancing and quarantine measures in force in many countries hit by COVID-19 have confined families to their homes and forced them to find new ways of living together and connecting with their social environment. While distance learning through digital media is becoming the practice to continue children’s education, it is mostly available in countries which possess well developed educational institutions and programs, and extensive internet access. Distance learning is thus becoming generally accessible to a high-income social minority. All over the world, children's and adolescents’ education happens mostly in schools, with families playing an important, but subsidiary role in curricular activities. Indeed, the education that school-age children receive at school is vital when it comes to assimilating content. Responses to the COVID-19 outbreak included class suspensions. This has posed a new challenge for families: mothers and fathers have had to take over the role of educators in the home, and are the ones leading the process of pedagogical and curricular training of their children.