Inequality and teaching online

Here is Spain, Galician university students have gone on strike, the first ever in history, because of the inequalities among students, one but not the only one being access to a wi-fi connection. And not just at university level. These inequalities are much more evident at primary and secondary levels. Not all households can afford a computer, not all households can afford more than one computer if parents have to work online, not all students have Internet access, buying food being a priority over paying the service, not all small villages and towns have a decent connection. We could mention a number of others.

Why am I saying this? Because I remember a Facebook conversation with colleagues on the topic of being environmentally conscious and somebody gleefully said: ‘ We should do without printed books to save trees.’ Yess! e-books for everyone!

While I advocate for protecting trees and forests, I remember I pointed out how well-off Eurocentric (mostly north Eurocentric) that comment was. We immediately tend to think about countries in Latin America, Africa or Asia. But what about Europe? Not every family can afford the technology. And this COVID19 pandemic has, among other things, made plain that even in Europe, people are not as well-off as some think they are.  And it has revealed the levels of inequality existing in our region.