With more than 21,000 victims, Italy has the second-highest coronavirus death toll in the world. The crisis has prompted the Italian government to adopt strict measures to prevent further spread of the virus—including freezing the entire Italian school system.

As a result, 8.4 million students have been forced to switch to online learning for an indefinite period of time—a transition that’s proven challenging for a country that’s fifth-to-last among EU members in digital performance. According to a 2018 report from the National Institute of Statistics, one in four Italian families lack stable, efficient internet access.