Abstract
The health crisis triggered by COVID-19 puts the right of students to obtain a fair and appropriate education under stress. The assumption that the suspension of physical activities may involve an impoverishment of educational growth inspired this study, The National Operative Programme (PON) tried to tackle this issue, sticking to the founding principle of enactive “…a smart, fair, sustainable and inclusive growth”. PON, in collaboration with the system of the integrated management of national planning (GPU), allowed schools to implement distance-learning platforms (DaD) to curb inequalities and poverty. Drawing on the findings of semi-structured interviews administered to high-performing schools, the authors propose a descriptive analysis that is aimed at unravelling the institutional factors that contribute to schools’ effectiveness. The main purpose is to systematize, through a quali-quantitative approach, the initiatives undertaken by schools to achieve excellence in education. PON enhanced schools’ ability to get a timely and relevant target: the fair and socially-sustainable access to education.