Pandemic and education at home: Reproduction of inequities in the learning of primary school students in Petén, Guatemala

Abstract

During the covid-19 pandemic in Guatemala, face-to-face classes were suspended for almost two years, which is why school education was developed remotely from homes. The process of accompanying families to student learning at home during the covid-19 pandemic was studied. The purpose of the research was to determine whether learning opportunities at home manifested themselves differentially depending on the location in the socioeconomic structure and therefore reflected inequities in education. The study, with a quantitative and observational approach, was carried out in the first semester of 2022. A sample of 438 households that had primary school students during the pandemic in communities of five municipalities in the department of Petén in Guatemala was used. The study found that the conditions under which they have been learning during the pandemic at home do not contribute to guaranteeing effective learning. It was determined that there are significant differences (p < .05) in learning opportunities in households depending on whether they are poor or not. In addition, the support they have received to continue their learning at home is significantly associated with the cultural and economic capital that is manifested at home. The pandemic has only highlighted in homes the reproduction of the inequities that the school manifests in the sense of what Bourdieu affirms. Structural changes are necessary to reverse these inequities.