Bill on student representation, students protest

ROME, APRIL 30 – Last week a proposal to amend the consolidated text on schools regarding student representation and participation was presented in Parliament. The student representatives, however, have denounced a lack of involvement in the work underway, having themselves made proposals in this regard over the last two years. “As the Students’ Union and Actionaid Italia we launched the We Can Everything campaign two years ago, with a proposal for structural reform relating to the issues of student participation and representation” declares Bianca Chiesa, national coordinator of the UDS, Students’ Union, student union . “As UDS – he continues – we have built the proposal starting from discussions with representatives and students from all over the country: from the bodies of individual schools up to the national ones. The law presented to date has not seen us involved in any way, nor mentioned at the time of the announcement, despite the fact that the Democratic Party was perfectly aware of our work and had been invited several times to our assemblies and events. Furthermore, the law only partially responds to the needs we posed” “We are deeply saddened – adds Chiesa – for the way in which we became aware of the presentation of the bill and were disappointed not to have been notified of it beforehand, having had numerous moments of discussion previously, even more so since we had the opportunity to present our proposals to the Democratic Party on several occasions , lastly on the occasion of the Policy Lab within the Festival of participation of Actionaid Italia in September and during a face-to-face meeting held recently”. Alice Beccari of the UDS also expressed her opinion on the merits of the issue, underlining that “the law also has numerous shortcomings. First of all, it proposes an increase in the number of representatives on the Institute Councils, but continues to not guarantee equal representation within them”. “Furthermore – continues Beccari – the introduction of a single joint Commission – with an exclusively consultative role – is limiting compared to the potential that these bodies would have if there were more and with a decision-making role. If, however, the proposal relating to student training appears to be complete , it is linked to civic education without going into explaining who in practice would be responsible for this training.” “We also believe that there are various shortcomings relating to the national representative bodies and the Councils. Instead, we want a structural reform that will make the convening of the Fast, Forum of the most representative student associations with the Ministry of Education, mandatory and on a regular basis monthly and a reform of the provincial student councils which sees the role of the tutor professor modified who often slows down the work and proposals of the students and the council representatives” he concludes. The UDS asks the Democratic Party for “an immediate meeting” in order to “propose amendments, and plan possible hearings if the proposal is then discussed in the Commission”. (HANDLE).