Some parents from the municipality of Ravenna presented a few days ago, after the release of the rankings for cren – summer centers for nursery schools and crem – summer centers for nursery schools, an online petition where they complain about the lack of places in municipal schools and ask the administration how it intends to intervene to make up for these shortages. The councilor for children’s policies, Livia Molduccitogether with the manager for the nursery school service, Laura Rossiwill respond to the families’ concerns on Wednesday 19 June, in an online meeting scheduled for the afternoon.
“It should be remembered that only families in which both parents are employed can apply for cre, then the ranking is drawn up based on the minor’s ISEE. Having said this premise, in recent months – explains Molducci – we have received all of them 382 questions for cren and 467 for crem. Each application concerns a boy or girl but in the same application multiple weekly attendance shifts may be requested. Therefore, considering this data, the shifts required for the summer nurseries were 1080: taking an average it means that each family requested participation in at least 3 weeks of horseradish. For nursery schools the data is similar: 1363 shifts considering the 467 questions. It means, on average, that each family asks for an attendance of 3/4 weeks.”
The online petition presented by a mother and available at the link www.change.org/p/emergency-asili-e-materne-nel-comune-di-ravenna has currently gathered 317 signatures out of 500. As stated in the text, parents complain because “they have to look for alternative solutions that are often expensive and far from their home” and that the inability to attend a summer center has “a negative impact on children. A path of educational continuity is suspended which affects the daily life of children, for whom routine is very important”. The signatory families therefore ask the municipality to intervene.
The councilor responds to the request by providing data and numbers on the municipality’s management of summer educational services. “I understand the concern of the families – comments Molducci – but I think it is useful to report some data to give a more incisive idea of the work and commitment that the municipality of Ravenna has been carrying out for some time in this sense. From 2022 we guarantee 820 shifts for summer nursery centers and 850 shifts for children of nursery age. For cren this year we have made 8 locations available for the months of July and August. Four in the city – Darsena, Ursa Minor, Era dei Bimbi and Lovatelli nests – and 4 in the area – the school of Marina di Ravenna, The talking cricket in Savana, The hedgehog in San Pietro in Vincoli and The Veliero in Porto Corsini. Then there are the cren provided by 7 Fism (Italian Federation of Nursery Schools) offices and 9 private nurseries, open in July and August. Crem are guaranteed in 7 municipal schools, 4 in the city – The Seagull, Monti, Happy Together and The Blue Arrow – and 3 in the area – The Jiminy Cricket, The Little Prince and The Dawn Treader. Also in this case for the 3-6 year age group, there are 10 Fism schools open for the months of July and August and finally 59 authorized private schools that can be viewed on the Oasi31 online platform (in this case for the 3-6 and 14 age group -17 years)”. For info: oasi31.it.
For municipal and private summer centers it is possible, until June 24th, to request the regional contribution, which contributes to covering the tuition fee: you can obtain up to a maximum of 100 euros per week (the limit is 300 euros in total over the course of the opening period of the courses). The regional contributions are part of the regional project to combat educational poverty (valid for children aged 3 to 13 and for families with an income equal to or less than 24 thousand euros). It extends up to the age of 17 for children with certified disabilities and in this case without an ISEE limit.
“It is true that private cres cost more than municipal ones, but it must be taken into account that municipal fees are now much reduced if we consider past years and this is by virtue of the possibility for families to access the regional contribution (which covers up to 10 months for municipal workers and 11 months for private individuals) and the INPS bonus. The only difference between the two benefits is that the regional one reduces the costs on the invoice, the national one is a refund on the fee paid which arrives the following month. We have calculated that thanks to this aid, a family with an annual income of up to 26 thousand euros has almost zero costs on school fees. And it is for this reason that applications for enrollment in municipal nursery schools and nursery schools have increased over the years: today it is much easier to obtain similar contributions” specifies Molducci.
Again according to what is reported by the competent department, the municipality of Ravenna confirms itself as the one that offers the greatest number of places for summer centers among the neighboring municipalities. “We have also granted public spaces – such as the Garibaldi school this year and the Piangipane nursery school in 2023 – to associations to allow them to do summer activities with the children”.
To provide the summer service, more precisely called “conciliation for families” and which, Molducci recalls, “is not obligatory for the municipalities, but at their discretion”, the Government’s Department for Family Policies has allocated 60 million euros (compared to 130 million in 2023) to be distributed among all Italian municipalities who organize the cre. “You can therefore imagine how much the costs weigh on the municipal coffers. In 2023 the municipality of Ravenna spent 545,657 euros on municipal cren and crem. Until 2021 we have satisfied all the shift requests submitted by families. It is also good to remember that to these 545,657 euros must be added 517,115 euros, which the Municipality spends – using the fund for the right to education – to pay the educators who look after children with disabilities enrolled in the cre. And this is because we believe that any child should be able to access, without any distinction, summer camps, even those where more sports are practiced and where consequently greater assistance is required for a child with special needs”.
