Following international guidelines to guarantee high quality and relevant education for all students for the 21st century, Portugal has invested in technologies and subsequent training for teachers, in the last decades. Some of the most important policies were part of the Education Technological Plan (2007-2010) which equipped schools with new technologies, like computers, interactive boards, routers and Wi-Fi networks, trained teachers and provided laptops for all students. After 2011 there was a clear disinvestment in technologies and training, and the technological equipment was not properly maintained. Besides, several studies have shown that the use of technologies is still incipient in many Portuguese schools. So how did school communities face the challenges brought by the pandemic waves, home confinement and closing of schools during the COVID-19 reality? Five principals of school clusters (responsible for a total of 38 schools from pre-school to the 12th grade, and around 735 teachers and 7260 students), located in different regions of the country and with distinct socioeconomic groups of students, were interviewed. Their answers display the difficulties faced by teachers with low technology skills associated to the unequal resources available to different students and their families. They also illustrate how local authorities and schools’ boards had to step in to provide and maintain technologies since 2011, and especially during the pandemic, due to the lack of national policies. Nevertheless, principals are also hopeful towards the future by some of the possibilities brought by teaching at a distance.

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covid19,inclusive education,local educational policies,inequalities

• Sociologia - Ciências Sociais