VICTORY FOR THE LUCANIAN TEACHERS

Victory for teachers with Master’s degrees in Basilicata, the Anief union resolves a long dispute with the provincial offices of Matera and Potenza: «Save the 2024 Gae scores for Lucanian colleagues». In recent years, the world of education in Italy, the union recalls, has been shaken by a dispute involving thousands of teachers with a master’s degree, engaged in the battle for the recognition of their rights in the exhaustive rankings (Gae). Teachers with a master’s degree, obtained before 2001-2002, «have long fought for the right to be included in the Gae and despite various sentences of the administrative courts having led to the exclusion of many of them, the issue has continued to generate uncertainties and inconveniences”. In particular, the Territorial Areas of Matera and Potenza, following the negative sentences, «have not only removed the teachers from the Gae, but also revoked the legal validity of the services provided, departing from the majority of the other Italian Territorial Areas, negatively impacting the score in the provincial and institute rankings”. This made it impossible for a large group of Lucanian teachers to work differently from their other colleagues in the rest of Italy for many years, further worsening the economic conditions of the numerous families involved and denying the right to educational continuity for the students who, in some cases, “have seen teachers change several times in the same year”. The Anief union has supported the teachers involved in this difficult situation in recent years. A decisive turning point was reached with the issuing of the Ministerial Ordinance of 16 May 2024. Article 15, paragraph 7 of the Ordinance provides that, “in order to guarantee homogeneity of treatment at a territorial level, the service provided following measures adopted in civil or administrative jurisdiction which have led to the awarding of permanent or fixed-term appointments on the basis of inclusion in competitive, exhaustion or institute rankings subsequently annulled by the relevant jurisdictional decisions constitutes a service assessable for the sole purpose of recognition of the score in the provincial and institute rankings”. «This clarification – explained the union – represented a significant victory for teachers, guaranteeing that the service provided, even if based on subsequently canceled appointments, is still recognized for the purposes of the points in the rankings. This decision also extended to all disputes involving other unions, as well as to all other types of disputes that do not concern holders of a master’s degree”. As regional president of Basilicata for Anief, prof. Nuccio Santochirico declared: «I have personally worked to bring out this clarification, through constant dialogue with the institutions and an incessant commitment to teachers’ rights, we have obtained a concrete result». From Santochirico, particular thanks go to the head of the Cabinet of the Mim, Giuseppe Recinto, and to all his staff, «primarily to the general director, Bernardo Iannettone, who thoroughly understood the problem and worked to introduce this important clarification into the Ordinance ministerial: their intervention was crucial to guarantee a fair and homogeneous solution at a territorial level.” «The dispute involving teachers with a master’s degree was a long and complex process – concluded the national president of Anief, Marcello Pacifico -, but thanks to the determination of the Anief union and the collaboration of the institutions, it was possible to reach a significant resolution . This result represents not only a victory for teachers’ rights, but also an example of how collective commitment can lead to concrete and positive changes. In the future, greater collaboration between unions and local authorities would be desirable, also in order to avoid unnecessary disputes to the detriment of teachers and students.”