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07 July 2020During the coronavirus emergency, says Agcom, "12.7% of Italian students did not use distance learning, unacceptable data for an advanced democracy". According to a survey carried out by the Authority on the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, reported in an annex to the 2020 Annual Report, it appears that 25 out of 100 children had problems with connection speeds, 19 out of 100 reported that not the whole class has attended the remote lessons, almost 10 out of 100 complained about the lack of suitable devices. 



Among the critical issues identified by the Authority, the socio-economic conditions and the presence of inadequate technological equipment that have significantly affected the educational growth of children at a time when e-learning has become the tool for in-depth study.



Schools are also in great difficulty because not all of them are reached by fiber cables for high-speed connections. The criticality concerns in particular the southern regions. 



According to the Agcom report, the period of the coronavirus emergency was a stress test for the digital and communications system which "on the whole proved capable of reacting to the exceptional situation", but also a formidable catalyst of existing deficits and inequalities that risk of "exacerbating in the near future", from the media crisis to the digital divide that has strongly influenced school and distance learning.



Differences even in the same class

"If on the one hand the slowness of home connections proves to be the aspect most indicated by the students and family members interviewed (25%) - writes the Authority in the report - the other problems that have emerged in this new phase are not insignificant. Not only do differences emerge between different school contexts, but also within a single class, as can be inferred from 19% of students who highlighted that not all classmates were able to participate in distance education.



The difficulty in using the software necessary for distance education and the need to share spaces with other family members represent a critical factor for 14% of Italian students. Finally, the deficit in the availability of equipment and the lack of training offered by schools, both with about 10%, represent two further factors capable of generating a highly heterogeneous school system - concludes Agcom - which risks fueling inequalities from the first years of an individual's life ".



Consumers:" We need remedial courses "

"According to Agcom, 12.7% of students did not use distance learning, unacceptable data for an evolved democracy. Summer remedial courses organized by schools are needed to make up for this shameful gap". It is Massimiliano Dona, president of the National Consumers Union to comment on the Agcom report.



"If 20% of students were able to attend courses only occasionally, without being able to regularly attend the lessons for the current school year, it is clear that this deficit must be filled before September and before the school starts again", he says. . "We had said it since the beginning of the Covid emergency, citing Istat data, that distance learning would have been a problem, especially in the South and that the 70 million at the time allocated by the Government for the purchase of tablets and computers were totally inadequate. Now the confirmation comes from the Agcom data ".