The front of the protest against the opening of nursery schools in July is widening. A collection of signatures will start in a few days for a popular initiative bill, presented by a group of teachers, which mainly aims to abolish the eleventh month. Meanwhile, tomorrow, on the first day of summer opening, there will be a strike called by the school trade unions Cisl, CGIL and Satos. In the morning there will also be a protest in Piazza Dante. There will be no Uil flags, which have chosen to take another path.
The proposed law was born from a discussion between the so-called satellite teachers, referents of the various circles of provincial and equivalent schools. In recent days, by decree of the governor Maurizio Fugatti, the Province has appointed a provincial employee to perform the authentication of the signatures. At least 2,500 signatures are needed for the text to reach the provincial council. The proposal, specifically, aims to modify article 5 of the 1977 provincial law on nursery schools, in order to not allow the extension of the school calendar until July.
«The nursery school is a school because its purpose is educational and not recreational, it considers the child as an active protagonist of the learning processes and not a subject to be entertained, it offers learning experiences that are the result of didactic planning, pedagogically oriented and not activities extemporaneous”, reads the report that accompanies the popular initiative law proposal, which includes the teacher Michela Lupi among the signatories. For these and other reasons the «nursery school can be considered a school with a capital “S” – it is added – The fact that school belongs to everyone does not mean that everyone can use it as they want according to their desires. And above all it is not a service for families.”
In the program recently approved by the council for the 2024-2025 school year, the Province has again confirmed the opening in July, initially introduced during the Covid-19 pandemic as an experiment. However, in the approval resolution, it is recalled “the faculty of the provincial council to review the methods of providing the summer service”. This is essentially the line adopted by the provincial councilor for education Francesca Gerosa: July remains, but in the meantime we are ready to study a better provision of the summer service. A position, however, that does not convince the unions.
The strike called by Cisl Scuola, Flc Cgil and Satos is scheduled for tomorrow, after the participatory assembly of last May 21st. And “after having tried several times and in various ways to bring to the attention of the provincial administration the serious paradox that characterizes the extension of the school year to 11 months”, underlines Monica Bolognani, general secretary of the Cisl Scuola. “The eleventh month was the result of an act of responsibility by the nursery school staff in July 2020, shared with the provincial administration, to support families at a time when the Trentino population was returning to life after the first months of the pandemic – recalls the unionist – It had been said by the previous education councilor Bisesti, that this commitment would be temporary, but the word was not kept”.
The secretary also highlights the “inconsistencies” at the contractual level. «Furthermore, the eleventh month – he concludes – caused inconsistencies in the application of an employment contract based on different working times: remodeling of employment contracts, rescheduling of additional hours, difficulty in taking holidays. The nursery school staff are experiencing a period of great frustration.”
