From the Sardinia Region comes a firm "no" to the national Government on the line for the reorganization of the school network on the Island. The resolution approved today by the Regional Council has established several measures to counter some critical issues detected in the Sardinian school.
There are four main points on which the Sardinian Executive has indicated it wants to intervene:
• act to counteract a school sizing – considered unfair by the Region – based on estimated numbers, but at the same time avoid the appointment of a commissioner by the central government;
• provide financial support to local authorities with merged school autonomies, to assist schools in planning extracurricular activities and services;
• work as a Region to immediately approve a bill that defines the constitutional competences on the issue;
• support parliamentary action, with the intervention already underway on the amendments to the “Milleproroghe” Law, for the granting of a further one-year derogation for the sized autonomies and, in parallel, continue to work in the Bilateral Commission on the implementation of the constitutional principle of insularity also in terms of school organisation.
"The Ministry", the Region recalls, "with decree no. 127 of 2023 has identified, by virtue of a three-year program - for the current school year - 9 school autonomies to be merged, on the basis of an estimate of the student population. These data, used as a basis for calculating the size, do not take into account the real number of male and female students, which comes to approximately 3,000 units more than the estimates . The Regional Council has adopted today's Resolution based on the real numbers, like the action of other Italian Regions such as Campania and Tuscany, for which the administrative judges will shortly rule on the merits".
As regards the reorganisation of the school network in Sardinia, the Regional Council has presented a smaller size: 6 institutes, instead of the 9 originally indicated . The choice fell on comprehensive institutes of the first cycle, in the same municipality or in municipalities close to each other, with a number of students that is not greater than 1,300 units, as foreseen by the recently approved guidelines. The Executive has chosen not to act on the second cycle of education so as not to further impact situations in which the percentage of school dropouts is already high , and where in recent years mergers between non-homogeneous study paths have already been carried out. The merger of the institutes is administrative: the Region recalls that it does not foresee the closure of school buildings and does not imply inconvenience for Sardinian students and families.
The Council has also decided to introduce a new measure: it is the programming of financial resources in favor of the municipalities where the schools that were involved in the merger are located. Specifically, it provides a fund of 2.5 million euros for the school and youth population of the local authority , which can support school reception activities, transport services, free canteen, regional and extra-regional mobility, study awards, sports, cultural and social activities. "The Sardinia Region invests in schools while the Government cuts. The world of education is not an area on which to save for the Sardinian Executive", the message from the Executive.
In the resolution adopted, the Council took into account two proposals from the provincial areas . In detail: for Cagliari, the merger of the Ugo Foscolo with the Comprehensive Institute via Turchia; for Gallura, the merger of the Comprehensive Institute of Aggius with that of Tempio. Again, the Comprehensive Institute of Thiesi with the Comprehensive Institute of Pozzomaggiore; the Comprehensive Institute of Orgosolo with that of Oliena; the Comprehensive Institute of Teulada with the Comprehensive Institute of Santadi and, finally, the merger of the two Comprehensive Institutes of Tortoli.
(Unioneonline/r.sp.)