School decree: controversy and doubts about the 30% ceiling for foreign students

The day after the approval of the school decree by the Council of Ministers, work began to define the coverage. The text has not yet reached the Quirinale and at this point it could come to the attention of the head of state directly on Monday. Meanwhile, controversy is raining down on the measure. The loudest alarm came from the mayor of Milan Giuseppe Sala. "The thing that worries me the most - he said - is the percentage ceiling. I'm doing some checks and I fear that we may have to close some classes, or even schools, not by our choice. There are neighborhoods in which the presence of children of immigrants goes beyond 30%".

Even the president of the ANCI and mayor of Naples, Gaetano Manfredi, pointed out that "when dealing with such delicate issues, we must always move with great prudence and attention also looking at the complexity of the country because in Italy we have areas in which the presence of immigrant communities, present for decades, is very large and we too see it in our territories where in the Vesuvian area there are many workers engaged in textiles and agriculture, and therefore there is a natural concentration".

Even the unions notoriously not hostile to the government have expressed more than one doubt. "Linguistic and cultural integration - said Elvira Serafini who leads Snals - cannot be entrusted only to percentage limits or regulatory provisions: adequate staff, stable cultural mediators, targeted training for teachers and certain resources are needed to support inclusion projects". While the secretary of the CISL Scuola asked herself "what is the true purpose of this rule" and the UIL Scuola with Giuseppe D'Aprile spoke of "exemptions and unclear criteria that can create confusion and discrimination, placing, as always, new tasks on schools and staff".

On the front of those directly involved, the schools, there are the ANP principals who tone down the controversy, speaking of "provisions inspired by common sense. The real test - observed the president Antonello Giannelli - will now be the concrete application of the law".

For the students of the Osa collective, who organized demonstrations throughout Italy and in the afternoon a flash mob in front of Montecitorio, the one approved "is the decree of racism", while the Flc CGIL invited the display of banners on inclusion in all schools after this morning, in front of an elementary school in Genoa, a banner was put up with the words "No one is a foreigner here" made by children and hung by their parents at the entrance of the institute, which was removed by two police officers from the Digos.

Meanwhile, today a new draft of the decree was circulated according to which the rules on the use of the burqa and niqab at school would be broadened: in fact, it is expected that they can be worn if there are "reasons inherent to teaching or training activities". But according to the Ministry of Education "there has been no change to the article: in the text entered and left by the Council of Ministers the law speaks of a ban on any form of face masking, providing for the necessary and logical exclusions".

Protests in schools: 'Racism decree approved'

"Meloni and Valditara should put their souls at rest: they thought they would let their racist filth pass without a reaction, but instead the schools have already responded". This was said by the students of the Osa student organization who have organized assemblies and strikes throughout Italy and launched what they define as "a cry of struggle and anger against the racism bill, that of the cap on foreign students in the classroom. Enough of state racism. Let the government solve the real problems instead of attacking us and trying to divide us. they will pass!". For this afternoon at 4.30 pm in Rome a flash mob was organized in front of Montecitorio.

Giani: 'The Valditara law is an unworthy rule, the limit has been exceeded'. De Pascale: 'Appeal? the text must be evaluated first

The Valditara decree on schools is "a law unworthy of a country that has hospitality and integration among its constitutional principles". Eugenio Giani, president of Tuscany, supported this on the sidelines of a Confcommercio event in Florence.

"I believe that this continuous pursuit of Vannacci's theories by Meloni - he continued - is really something superficial and demagogic, in this case at the expense of people who in our country are trying to integrate, from an early age. I really believe that this time the limit has been crossed".

So, Giani asked himself, "what will we manage to do in areas of Florence like Brozzi, where there are classes with 70% of children who are not citizens but who in most cases immediately learn the language in a few weeks? Let's think about situations like Prato: what do we do? Do we send them away, don't we make them go to school?".

"We must carefully evaluate the text" of the school decree. The Regions can appeal "if their legislative competences are violated, they cannot present a generic appeal. At first glance I honestly don't believe that these elements exist", stated the president of Emilia-Romagna Michele de Pascale, on the sidelines of the inauguration of the expansion of the Tecnopolo of Ozzano dell'Emilia, responding to the question on the hypothesis of an appeal by the Regions against the school decree.

De Pascale also invites us to wait for the parliamentary examination: "The law has changed several times in the texts that have been circulated and will have to be studied in detail - he explains - We are waiting to understand what the definitive text will be after the conversion". Meanwhile, the president points out possible implementation difficulties for schools and local school offices. "I am thinking above all of schools in the mountains, where in some schools there are very high percentages and the first school alternative is 50 kilometers away: what solution are you thinking of using?", he observes.

"School is the way to integrate foreign families, therefore defining thresholds, as well as the issue of language knowledge, which is a fundamental aspect for children, but much more complicated for parents, must be managed not with laws but with real integration projects", underlined the mayor of Naples and national president of Anci, Gaetano Manfredi, in relation to the school decree approved yesterday by the Council of Ministers.

"The education of children - he added - represents the first factor of integration within a society and therefore, when dealing with such delicate issues, we must always move with great prudence and attention also looking at the complexity of the country because in Italy we have areas in which the presence of immigrant communities, present for years, decades, is very large and we too see it in our territories where in the Vesuvian area there are many workers engaged in textiles and agriculture, and therefore there is a natural concentration".

When we have the text of the school decree, "there will be a moment of sharing with the regional school office and with the heads of the institutes, without prejudice to the fact that in any case it can only be operational starting from the next school year given that the classes are formed and certainly cannot be remodelled". This was stated to ANSA by the Puglia regional councilor for Culture and Knowledge, Silvia Miglietta, regarding the legislative decree on schools approved yesterday by the Council of Ministers.

"There will be time to do the appropriate in-depth analysis on a text on which we already see a partial backtracking by the Government with respect to some clearly unconstitutional aspects", continues Miglietta, referring to the initial draft of the Decree which provided for the loss of parental responsibility in the event that the foreign student's family unit of origin was an obstacle to linguistic and scholastic integration.

"It must then be said that such a legal approach - he adds - always assuming that it remains unchanged after the Quirinale's observations, cannot ignore a parallel and substantial investment in services to support families". "The Puglia Region believes in an inclusive school and is already building it - concludes Miglietta - as evidenced by the provision of intercultural mediation vouchers approved by the council, which, in the next few days, will lead to the publication of the notice for the support of linguistic and cultural mediation services in the comprehensive institutes of Puglia".

Assoutenti: 'There is a risk of an economic blow for families'

The decree which sets a maximum limit of 30% for foreign students in schools risks causing economic damage to families and introducing new costs to be borne by them. Assoutenti states this, commenting on the government's measure.

"In various areas of the country, schools today record a high presence of foreign students, to the point that in some classes their number exceeds that of Italian students - explains Assoutenti - This means that to respect the 30% limit in the classes of all institutes, students will have to be transferred to other schools where the number of foreigners is lower, moving away from their area of ​​residence and forcing families to equip themselves to cope with the movements".

In the hypothesis of a student moved 4 km from home and accompanied to school by a parent by car, the cost between the return trip is approximately 374 euros per year in the case of a diesel car, 448 euros with a petrol car (for a total of 16 km per day for 200 days, at current fuel prices and considering that diesel engines consume less). Expenditure that rises exponentially as the distance from school increases. If, however, you opt for public transport with an annual pass, the cost for an under-19 student, depending on the city of residence, can reach 260 euros without concessions linked to the ISEE, concludes Assoutenti.