Distance learning in basic and upper secondary schools in the Czech Republic 5/22 The vast majority of pupils at basic and upper secondary schools were involved in distance education. However there were certain differences in the scope and manner of their involvement. Only 11% of pupils in basic schools with primary level and 16% of pupils in basic schools with primary and lower secondary levels weren´t involved in online communication with their school. In the case of upper secondary schools, bigger problems were recorded in vocational programmes finished with a VET certificate, in which more than a fifth of pupils weren´t involved in online communication. It is positive that schools managed to involve even most of the pupils without online communication in distance education. Nevertheless, there were about 9,500 basic and upper secondary school pupils who weren´t in touch with their schools at all, and therefore these pupils didn´t participate in any form of education during the school closure. Main reasons for the absence of online communication with some pupils were either the lack of ICT equipment or insufficient internet connection. Another important factor was the low motivation of some pupils for education or weaker support from their parents, who, of course, had to deal with a number of other work or personal issues. The most difficult situation in this respect was in regions with lower socio-economic status and especially in socially disadvantaged areas. However, a very positive fact is that even in these areas, schools did their best to implement distance learning for students and were looking for ways of delivering school work to students and to communicate with them. Various platforms were used to communicate with parents and pupils. In the primary level of basic schools, WhatsApp, Skype and Facebook were used most often. In the lower secondary level, Bakaláři and Google Classroom were used as well. In upper secondary schools, on the other hand, Bakaláři information system was of the most common use, and Microsoft Teams was also used frequently. In more than a half of basic and upper secondary schools, one platform was used by all teachers, in more than 40% of basic and upper secondary schools more than one platform was used. During the school closure, a half of basic and more than 60% of upper secondary schools were trying to continue with teaching according to the thematic plans of individual teachers, in accordance with the school educational programme. Thus, determining the specific thematic priorities on which the school focuses in distance education wasn´t very common, even though it might have been useful in the new context. A positive finding was that practically all basic and upper secondary schools focused on practising and repeating topics taught and discussed before. However, more than 80% of basic schools and more than 90% of upper secondary schools simultaneously tried to present new topics to pupils distantly. However, this could be very complicating for students themselves and especially for their families. The main goal of distance education should be to maintain pupils' habits associated with school work, not necessarily the effort to teach as much as possible according to the school educational programme. In general, it is obvious that providing feedback to students has become even more important in distance learning compared to non-covid-19 time. Most schools provided feedback to their students during distance learning - focusing usually on motivation and formative function of the feedback. Some schools used usual marking of school work that had been assigned remotely. At the same time, however, there was a significant proportion of schools whose teachers only assigned tasks to pupils without providing any subsequent support to them. This approach, however, cannot be considered appropriate. Before the covid-19 pandemic, teachers often educated their students using digital technologies in less than a fifth of basic and upper secondary schools. The teachers’ work in the new conditions of distance education is therefore assessed as more demanding, but teachers are