This paper investigates the experiences of children and teenagers during the COVID-19 pandemic. This group is particularly at risk of being affected by negative consequences of the COVID-19 situation because they experienced the pandemic during their transition from childhood to young adolescence, which is a vulnerable phase. In the project "Impediments and enablers to schooling of non/privileged students during the COVID-19 pandemic – a comparison between Canada and Germany", funded by the German government, we compare how students from non/privileged milieus experienced school and out-of-school (including family) life during the different phases of the pandemic, as well as the school and classroom ways of dealing with them. An indicator of levels of inclusion, equity, and diversity provided by students' "sense of belonging" in schools. This indicator reflects how students' individual and group needs are being accommodated in both academics and school life in general. Canada ranked 15th out of 32 for this measure, and Germany 25th (OECD, 2018, p. 193). School contexts differ between these two countries as well: while the German states has a tracked school system that distinguishes vocational and academic tracks, Canada's provinces have only one track. The different school tracks correlate with different socio-economic privileged milieus, while inequality in Canadian schools is related to the school catchment area. The context also differs since schools in Germany were closed for almost a year – with small breaks in between – while Canadian schools only closed for two months at the beginning of the pandemic. In the paper, the experiences of non-privileged students on schooling and out-of-school life in Canada and Germany are contrasted. This will be done based on group interviews conducted with small groups in the schools. The comparison shows that non-privileged students from Germany were experiencing exclusion from educational resources much more than their peers in Canada. Due to the lack of devices and internet access, they were not included in day-to-day options in remote exchange with teachers and peers. Moreover, they were not engaging in other activities, like gardening, at home. In contrast to their Canadian peers, the German students were offered less support, like reducing academic expectations and offering personal support in working on tasks.

OECD. (2018). Equity in Education. Breaking down barriers to social mobility, PISA. OECD, Publishing. https://doi.org/doi:https://doi.org/10.1787/9789264073234-en