TURIN. Excluded from the educational trip organized by the Niccolò Tommaseo comprehensive institute of Turin for reasons of “merit”, as stated in the minutes of the class council. There were 8 people left in the classroom, three with learning disabilities and one visually impaired person. The owner of the Viale Trastevere department responded to the protests of the parents, some of whom also called into question the Minister of Education Giuseppe Valditara, categorically denying the interpretation of merit provided by the Tommaseo institute: «The choice not to involve students with disabilities on the educational trip cannot be shared. The merit we are aiming for does not have as its reference the arithmetic average on the report card but the commitment and consistency in realizing one’s personal talents. If the choice to reduce the number of students admitted to the visit to just 15 was made by the host structure, I believe that an exception could have been requested and obtained by referring specifically to the need for inclusive teaching”.
The story that happened at the Tommaseo institute involves an entire class that participated in the «Reconnessioni» project. They are 14 and 15 year old girls and boys who have to make a podcast. The theoretical lessons are followed by practical lessons to be carried out in Milan in the Radio24 editorial office but only 15 students are admitted and it is up to the school to decide which students to send.
«The criterion chosen for the selection of the 15 is that of merit – we read in the minutes of the class council -. Those selected will be communicated directly by the professors.” A decision communicated to parents via the school diary: «The participating students were selected based on the results of the first quarter and their recovery needs». The chosen ones go to Milan to understand first hand how a podcast is made while the 8 remaining in Turin have a lesson on the same topic with the support teacher. It is at that point that the parents’ reaction is triggered. “The school cannot be repressive on merit”, complains one of them. «How can you leave students in class who struggle more than others because they don’t fall within the average of 8? The school must guarantee hospitality, otherwise we will do exactly what a certain political faction, represented by Valditara and Vannacci, says”, comments another.
In reality, a few days ago the Minister of Education distanced himself from the statements of General Roberto Vannacci who had asked for separate classes for pupils with learning problems in an interview with The print. “The League’s line is very clear, no one else has done as much as us for the inclusion of disabled students. Vannacci clarified his positions,” he said, referring to Vannacci’s backtracking after the controversy created by his statement.
The principal Lorenza Patriarca, municipal councilor of the Democratic Party, explains the school’s position, assuring that hers “has always been an inclusive school”. «We would have preferred to bring all the students – she says – but they imposed a limited number on us, so we had to make a selection. The criterion, merit, was defined by the class council: whoever was best able to talk about the experience was chosen. Should we have drawn lots?”
