Afragola, 677 families write to the Municipality: «No to double shifts, they undermine the right to education and health»

OfGaetano Fioretti

The protest started from the Marconi Institute when the Pnrr construction sites were announced

Hundreds of parents from the Marconi Institute in Afragola took sides by registering a petition with the Municipality to say no to the idea of double shifts for Pnrr work at school. «Unfortunately, after months in which we repeat our no to double shifts, there has been no response from the administration to our request for clarification regarding the renovation works at the first Guglielmo Marconi club in Afragola. Petition necessary to protect our children.” Speaking is Salvatore Cimmino, president of Autism Campania Onlus, who has been carrying out this battle for weeks to prevent the educational activity for hundreds of children from being overturned.

«The lack of an answer on the issue only exacerbates the concerns of all the pupils’ parents, in particular of the 100 pupils with disabilities who, in the case of double shifts, would have to choose whether to carry out the teaching activity or the therapies – continues Cimmino -. It is clear that the arrangement of double shifts is the responsibility of those who carry out the teaching activity, therefore the manager Gelsomina D’Anna, unfortunately however it is not yet clear to us what the strategy implemented by the Afragolese administration is to give us a hand” .

So if on the one hand all the parents who signed the petition are worried about the “serious risk that we reach the start of the new school year without knowing what will happen to their children with regards to the organization of teaching activities” on the other families of children with disabilities fear that due to the double shifts, with school and medical treatments taking place in the afternoon, they will have to choose between the right to education and the right to health for their children. This pushed the Autism Campania Onlus association, represented by the lawyer Michele Pascarelli, to send a new letter to ask the municipal administration and the school for solutions to the problem before it is too late.

«Many families are worried about the work that will be done thanks to the Pnrr funds. We are not against these structural works but we do not want the teaching activity to be carried out with double shifts which undermine the right to study and health of our children – declares Dr. Rosa Di Lena, president of the Institute Council of 1 ° Marconi teaching club -. We are in May and we don’t know when the work will begin or how the school year will begin in September.”

«I understand the parents’ concerns – says the mayor of Afragola, the professor Antonio Pannone – we must favor a serious and responsible discussion, neutralizing isolated exploitations. I am committed to adopting every useful measure to avoid inconvenience to pupils, with particular attention to protecting the right to health and education of children with disabilities. Tomorrow I will have a meeting with the school director, then we will discuss with the parents and the associations involved. I will take action to ensure that the summer months are appropriately used to carry out a considerable amount of the planned work. The PNRR must finally allow us to bring order to school buildings which have been neglected for too many years”, concludes the mayor of Afragola.

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