COVID-19, school closures, and remote teaching: The response time of Brazilian education systems.

ABSTRACT

With the COVID-19 pandemic, physical distancing strategies entered the list of recommended non)pharmaceutical measures to inhibit the spread of the virus. In educational institutions, these measures resulted in the suspension of face-to-face classes, a process known as school closures. However, states with less capacity to face the consequences of the pandemic ended up transfiguring this transitional measure into a permanent condition, exacerbating existing educational inequalities. This was the case in Brazil, which, during a crisis of the federal pact, triggered fragmented and uncoordinated remote teaching programs. It is precisely to Brazil that this article refers, which characterizes the response time to the closure of schools in the federal education network, in the form of the Federal Institutes of Education, Science and Technology (Institutos Federais de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia), in comparison with the state network. This is an exploratory and descriptive study that uses quantitative and qualitative methods, based on document analysis. It examines the interval between school closures, the disclosure of a contingency plan, the implementation of remote teaching, and the return to face-to-face activities. It finds that, on average, the Institutes took 114 days to publish a contingency plan, in contrast to 34 days for state networks. The article posits the hypothesis that such differences are related to the autonomy of the Institutes in relation to the federal government and the polarization that resulted from president Bolsonaro's administration, aggravated by his denialist stance. (English) [ FROM AUTHOR] El distanciamiento físico implementado para evitar la propagación de la covid-19 supuso la suspensión de las clases presenciales, o sea, el cierre de las escuelas. Estados con menor capacidad para enfrentar las consecuencias de la pandemia transformaron esa medida transitoria en permanente, lo cual exacerbó las desigualdades. Ese fue el caso de Brasil que, en medio de una crisis del pacto federativo, acudió a programas de enseñanza remota fragmentados y desordenados. En este artículo se compara el tiempo de respuesta ante el cierre de las escuelas de la red federal de educación –en la figura de los Institutos Federales de Educación, Ciencia y Tecnología– con el de la red estatal. El texto se basa en un estudio exploratorio y descriptivo fundamentado en métodos cuanti cualitativos y el análisis documental. Se analiza el tiempo entre el cierre de las unidades, la divulgación de un plan de contingencia, la implementación de la enseñanza remota y el regreso a las actividades presenciales. Se constata que, en promedio, los institutos federales tardaron 114 días para divulgar un plan de contingencia frente a los 34 días que requirieron las redes estatales. Se concluye con la siguiente hipótesis las diferencias están relacionadas con la autonomía de los institutos respecto al Gobierno federal y la polarización que generó la gestión presidencial de Bolsonaro, empeorada con su postura negacionista. (Spanish) [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Íconos. Revista de Ciencias Sociales is the property of FLACSO Ecuador (Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)