The staggered timetable remains at school until June
Students from Rome and Lazio had hoped for it: with the return to “normality”, sanctioned by the end of the state of emergency which will expire at midnight today 31 March, the expectation was to no longer have to juggle between two different timetables of entry to school, 8 and 9.40, with the restoration of the much desired single timetable. It won’t be like that. The Government – specifically the Ministry of Transport – has decided to leave things as they are (for over a year now) until June, when the school year (the third in the Covid era) will come to an end.
Roman students: “We are always in last place”
A bolt from the blue, a bit like the news of the “new” 2022 maturity, which arrived in February, with the return of the written test which for two years had been replaced by a 60-minute oral interview. “As usual in this country the school, the young people, the students are an outlet for the problems of the whole system – regrets Leonardo Soffientini, coordinator of the Network of Roman Middle Students -. The confirmation of double shifts is equivalent not only to deprivation for thousands of students the possibility of being able to return to normality, to play sports, do extracurricular activities, study, but above all it is the confirmation that we are in last place in the list of priorities. The state of emergency expires but the school remains immobilized , what was supposed to be a stopgap measure has become a habit.”
The principals: “Common sense decision for infections”
Cristina Costarelli, director of the scientific Newton and president of the national association of principals of Lazio, tries to calm people down: “We seem to have fought for the return to the single timetable – she tells RomaToday – or at least so that each school can organize the schedules independently, with shorter intervals than what was established from above. However, a few weeks ago, the infection curve started to rise again and in Rome we realized that it might be inappropriate to put the girls back on public transport, all together Hey guys”. Furthermore, going back to the old way 40 days after the last bell would not be comfortable for anyone: “Teachers and families – specifies Costarelli – would have to revolutionize daily habits for just over a month, it’s not easy”. The manager’s hope, however, “is that in September we will return to favoring the autonomous action of schools, as required by law”.
Reception of refugees: the unknown remains
Chapter on welcoming refugees from Ukraine: according to MIUR data, 522 are expected in Lazio, in many schools – especially in the 0-11 age group – the organizational machine has already started with insertions one by one. Both last week and Wednesday 30 March the principals met with the regional school office and the Capitoline department represented by Claudia Pratelli to take stock of the situation. Unfortunately, there are no particular reassurances regarding the spaces available, as Costarelli herself confirms: “They have told us little about it – she explains – because if there are schools at the limit of capacity the possibilities are not there and then we need to find alternatives. To date There are no cases of pupils sent away from the place of reception, but the numerical issue is there and we cannot hide it. We have put it to the regional school office also and above all in view of next year, because the emergency will not end in June. Now we are gritting our teeth, but then we need to look to the future. In any case we perceive a great willingness to implement forms of support, both economic and organic, also through a regional tender to hire linguistic and cultural mediators. Of course, the times of bureaucracy are what they are, they are not always reconciled with those of reality, but the convergent effort of the institutions is there”.
