Safe locations, classrooms, and furniture for teaching: this is the request of Sardinia's CPIAs, state schools that fight daily against school dropouts, as well as promoting continuing education and lifelong learning. "CPIAs, provincial adult education centers," a statement reads, "provide a fundamental service, but they don't have a 'home.'"
In Sardinia, one of the Italian regions with the highest school dropout rates, the CPIAs play "an even more significant role with their courses to bring those who have failed to earn a qualification back into the classroom." But the provincial centers also offer concrete support to the most vulnerable segments of the population, with courses to support those who have fallen behind, courses to teach Italian to foreigners, and courses to promote the re-education of incarcerated students through programs in prisons.
Despite this work, which brings thousands of students back to the classroom, the CPIAs do not have their own headquarters and are often unwelcome guests of children's and young people's schools.
"This situation creates numerous difficulties," the statement continues. "CPIAs are effectively forced to operate evening hours, which aren't always adequate for the needs of the adult population (often women and mothers) who would prefer to attend in the morning or early afternoon, especially in inland areas during the winter. This discriminates against vulnerable users, who should be supported, also in order to achieve the European Union's objectives of reducing dropout rates, raising the level of education of the adult population, lifelong learning, and equal opportunities."
For this reason, the Sardinian CPIA Network, which unites the island's five centers, is calling on the Region to adopt an adequate construction plan, assigning exclusive and permanent locations for safe spaces, classrooms, and furniture.