With the spread of the coronavirus epidemic and the simultaneous closure of schools, the issue of distance and online learning has become a major challenge for students, families, and schools from the very beginning. Even after several months, the issues related to it have not been fully resolved and remain strong. These challenges have paved the way for the re-emergence of problems in the development of electronic society. The fact that the capacity and quality of the country’s internet infrastructure is by no means standard and despite all these obvious problems, there is no serious will or acceptable solution to deal with it.

It seems that all the views of those in charge have turned to the temporary nature of the situation so that eventually, without any proper and accurate planning, the period of the coronavirus epidemic and, consequently, the period of online education will be spent and eventually forgotten. But the truth is that above all, these students, especially those in deprived areas, will be seriously affected by this situation and educational inequalities will continue to deepen

“Sad” app

As mentioned, the problems related to the country’s internet infrastructure reached their peak during the coronavirus period. This happened in conjunction with the implementation of remote learning for students and the launch of the “Shad” application. While many programmers were busy creating and presenting virtual education startups to the Ministry of Education, it was the Shad application that succeeded in becoming an exclusive platform for remote and virtual education and was introduced to schools across the country in the month of Farvardin of this year. This application was launched by the operator Hamrah-e Aval and monopolized the field of virtual education for schools.

From the beginning, using the Shad application was accompanied by many difficulties. These problems were not only related to the application itself, but also to the inefficiency of the country’s internet infrastructure. During this time, many complaints were raised by users. Even in the past month, reports have been published about poor signal and slow internet speed in some areas, especially rural areas. For example, news agencies

Digital Divide and Educational Injustice

Currently, in the wake of major developments that the world has witnessed, from the expansion of virtual communications to unpredictable epidemic crises, education has also taken on a new form of life. Therefore, it is necessary for fundamental infrastructures for digital communications to be provided in society. Any negligence and disregard will delay the development process of a country. Especially since educational inequality, caused by unequal access to digital facilities, will lead to other social inequalities in a chain reaction.

The term “digital divide” supports the idea that if access to digital facilities and appropriate infrastructures – specifically in the education of students – is not equally accessible to all individuals, a form of discrimination will form in society and will continue for years to come. Government policies, especially those of the Ministry of Communications in recent years, have not been very successful in creating a balance between different groups in using the internet. In many areas, internet speed has caused many problems in education, to the point where the educational process has become tedious.

The lack