Sardinia, goodbye to 45 school autonomies: mayors and CGIL against the Region's plan

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«In a clumsy attempt to defend himself – we read in the note from the unions – councilor Biancareddu admits the cuts and says that they are not closures, but this is an alibi to push through arbitrarily decided mergers between distant schools which will make attendance at the schools impracticable pupils in areas that already show signs of widespread social and economic hardship".

According to the CGIL, the Region has given up trying to assert its specificities and the prerogatives granted by the autonomous statute. «Other logics seem to prevail», concludes the union, which announces a «January of protest» , in the hope that the plan will not be ratified in the next steps foreseen in the Culture commission and then again in the Council.

The mergers and suppressions concern the south and north of Sardinia, the central part of the island is not affected. The municipalities affected are Cagliari, Quartu, Assemini, Capoterra, Sinnai, San Teodoro, Budoni, Oschiri, Monti, Osilo, Castelsardo, Sennori, Sorso, Usini, Ittiri, Sassari, Thiesi, Pozzomaggiore, Tempio, Alghero, Santa Teresa Gallura.

«It destroys the social fabric of Sardinia, the center-right must stop - is the appeal of the Sardinian parliamentarians of the Democratic Party Marco Meloni and Silvio Lai - A plan that breaks the precarious connection between the social infrastructure fundamental for the equality of citizens and to promote the possibilities of people and territorial communities to grow in prosperity, that is, the school, and the territory of Sardinia".

«Autonomous educational institutions go from the current 270 to 228: between suppressions and mergers, for entire territories the specter of depopulation induced by wrong public policies increasingly seems like an inevitable fate. We need to act immediately, and doing so is the responsibility of the centre-right in government, in Cagliari as in Rome - they attack -. Can you still approve the Democratic Party's amendment to the National Budget Law - for now rejected in the Senate - with which we have asked for a derogation from the criteria established at national level, in implementation of the principle of insularity recently inserted into the Constitution, so as to lower the threshold of pupils necessary to maintain school autonomy. It can decide, as Anci Sardegna requests and as all the mayors of our island request, to postpone the entry into force of the reform for a year, so as to allow the Region to fully exercise its powers on the matter or it can vote on the proposal to law presented in the Regional Council by the centre-left".

On the Aventine also a part of the centre-right with the group leader of the Sardinian Reformers in the Alghero city council, Alberto Bamonti : «The future of education in Sardinia is threatened by the recent school sizing plan, with a worrying focus on the Professional Center (IPSAR- IPIA) of Alghero. Our complaint is clear: we cannot allow the loss of the autonomy that has characterized many institutions in our region. Reducing the autonomy of such a prestigious hub would undermine not only its legacy, but also the future of those who wish to pursue a career in the professional sector."

(Unioneonline/L)