In these pages, Cesare Treccarichi described the false start of the Made in Italy high school that was supposed to be the flagship of Giorgia Meloni’s new school. Too few institutions signed up, study plans were left unfinished, professorships were at risk, and there was much confusion. Ms. Elisabetta Piccolotti, MP from the Green Left Alliance and member of the Culture Committee of the House of Representatives, tells Today.it.
Piccolotti explains: “Minister Giuseppe Valditara does not know how to govern, and the Made in Italy high school, an issue that the Prime Minister insisted on so much during the election campaign, is just a propaganda operation. There is no definitive information on this subject. There is no definitive information on the educational paths in the new high school, the purpose and goals that will be imparted to the children.” “It’s about skills. This is information that needs to be conveyed to both families and teachers,” he said.
Teachers are very worried.
“Chaos reigns, we constantly receive calls from teachers and many of them are afraid. This is especially true for those who teach philosophy and humanities, because chairs will disappear and therefore jobs will be lost. It is an absurd situation, because the Ministry, moreover, does not respond to any requests for explanation. There is an economic-social option “The humanities high school had nearly 83 thousand students, why should we cancel something that works? This is a concern not only ours, as shown. The opinion was also voted in the commission by right-wing MPs and was ignored by the government, which asked the executive to continue this opinion.”
Is it normal to reduce foreign language lesson hours in a training course in 2024?
“It’s really the wrong choice and it would almost make you smile if it wasn’t a tragedy. No, it’s not normal to have foreign language hours taken away, it’s not normal to have humanities, sociology and philosophy taken away either. It’s not.” It’s normal because it’s a high school, so it’s still an institute that should teach students how to think critically. I believe that there is also a cultural purpose in the government’s choice to cancel that part of the teachings. especially the humanities, which enable children to understand the complexity of social problems. This government of independently minded people, in essence, does not care; It erases everything that is theoretical thought. Its name is Made in Italy High School, it already has foreign words in its name, and it aims to train managerial figures in an export-oriented sector. “The English language needs to be one of the pillars, it’s all very strange.”
Very few institutions responded to the call. What are the risks?
In cases where it is not possible to open new classes and education in the old high school ends, we may find ourselves faced with a high school shortage. The main question we ask ourselves is: why didn’t they decide to strengthen the technical institutes? It could have been a more consistent choice and they explained this, saying that technical and vocational institutions should be given more credit. “There is an impression that they want to use the more noble term ‘high school’ to confuse things.”
High schools complain that they only have a few days to evaluate. Doesn’t all this seem very superficial to you?
“This is also really disrespectful to the students. We believe that the enrollments will be low, certainly less than those in the current high school. We therefore ask for the immediate suspension of this unsuccessful attempt at the Made in Italy high school. We ask the government to return to the chamber and discuss the issue with everyone.”
Can it be done?
“They can easily repeal the laws and tell schools to continue parts of the humanities high school with the economic-social option, stopping this declared failure. We are also very worried about this fiasco. Political pressure on teachers and principals: school councils to redo the vote that gave negative results “We know it is reconvening. There is little consensus among teachers and they are trying to force their hand to show that the numbers are good but as all the unions have pointed out very few institutes have joined.”
There are those in the union world who argue that the government only wants functional training that will provide workers to companies. Do you share this concern?
“This is not just a concern, it is unfortunately a certainty. And it is a violation of the students’ right to receive quality education. The Italian Constitution states that the school that trains future citizens, not manpower for companies, is for this “professional education.” And vocational training is done in the company after completing the study cycle, because the study cycle should give us the necessary tools to exist in the world and deal with different types of work. And instead, Meloni, the Government, combined with the professional technician reform that shortens the duration of training by one year, this new high school and the announcement of the entry of private individuals into the decision-making positions of the school, we want education to be managed by corporations”.
The point of all this?
“Because in this way, they transfer the costs of vocational education to the school, and therefore to the state, saving the companies from these expenses. Today, precarious work lasts three months, six months, a year; there is a constant job change, and companies already ensure that children who do not need education are ready because they are educated with the state’s money.” “We want them. Children are already ready to be hired and fired at any moment. This is a model of insecurity, poor work and the decline in the quality of our democracy.”
And if students protest, they risk 5-day fines and 10-day suspensions, completed with the approval of the minister, principal and sheriff, as is the case in Tasso and other high schools in the capital…
“Yes, it is like a science fiction movie. This government wants the same, well-disciplined, obedient and disciplined children, but this is not the reality of the youth world. It is normal, in fact it is right and healthy. A political action like occupying the school, where there are mobilizations, protests, occupations, is a political action where students feel that they are part of society.” It is an action that they have made room to feel a part of, it is a moment in which they need to be listened to, this pressure sends the opposite message and that is why we are developing proposals to decriminalize politically related offenses even in schools, this is followed by new ‘new’ reports of ‘attacks on road safety’. generation” we do it for the children, for the workers who go to court. For the school students who fail if they take part in the occupation, for those who take action to defend their jobs: what we are seeing is called the suppression of democratic opposition”.
Source: Today IT
Emma Fitzgerald is an accomplished political journalist and author at The Nation View. With a background in political science and international relations, she has a deep understanding of the political landscape and the forces that shape it.
