EDUCATION:
the right
to the rights
The right to education
Education is participation
EDUCATE
NO
CUTS
The 3 «E»:
EMPLOY
EMPOWER
Students’ slogans
ACTIONS
speak
louder
than
words!
School:
No Sales!
Defend the
right to
protest
Free
education
to
everyone
School needs
Safety
Adequate technological equipment
 School needs
Fewer pupils per class
Students’ common rooms
A large library where to study
Investments
Students’ requests
We need money to have good and
qualified services
to invest on our future.
Stop cuts on education
and public schools!
Cuts mean:
a)No present and no future prospects
for us students
b)No hope to find adequate jobs
c) Unfair opportunities
WE WANT A DEMOCRATIC SCHOOL
Education is the right of everybody
Open Letter to the Minister of Education
Honourable Minister Carrozza,
as a class of a public high school in Pescara, we have been deeply involved since the start of the
school year in the vivacious debate concerning school,with particular regard to the future of
public schools and the role of education today. The recent marches and the strikes organized in
many Italian and foreign cities have been for us a hopeful cry to make our voices be listened to.
We are well aware that the Government’s policies are often dictated by circumstances which
are sometimes independent of your will, (considering the present serious economic crisis which
seems, as a matter of fact, still far from finding easy resolutions) yet we would like to timidly
put forward some requests: «Don’t let public school die», we are children of our nation and we
wish we could still defend the colours of legality, honesty, democracy as well as the right to a free
education, which are the ideals we have been brought up to and the ones we have always kept as
right and legitimate up to now. We feel discouraged as a generation and on looking at our near
future we feel plundered of our right to happiness. We see menacing clouds on the horizon and we
feel «sentenced to banishment» in nourishing some hope of surviving (considering as necessary at
least the rights to a job, to a family, to health). The healthy state of a society starts from school. If
Italy continues, along with other European countries, to cut back on education, our skills, talents
and intelligence will be definitely buried. If Governments do not consider these points, we will not
be able to avoid the consequences of a deeper not merely financial crisis, but which will soon
deeply affect society and institutions. Safeguarding young people’s future with fair policies will
help to keep order and stability preserved. Investing on people’s mental powers and skills by
fostering research will make our country competitive enough to face the prospective social,
economic political and cultural challenges. The lack of proper investments will lead, on the
contrary, to a predictable brain drain, with disastrous repercussions on motivation and on scarse
employment possibilities for us all. Research is a «must» for the future of our nation, if we want to
increase competitiveness, we must always find new resources to invest on, otherwise Italy will
soon turn into a backward country, full of debts, with very modest chances of social, political
and economic rebirth. This letter is our personal contribution to the exercise of an active and
participated right/duty of citizenship, hoping not to be left alone or even cut off from progress,
thus givig up our hope to what should be considered as our «inalienable rights» : freedom, life,
equality and above all the pursuit of happiness.
Yours faithfully,
Roberta Miscia and class I A - ‘Liceo Scientifico’ «G. Galilei» (Pescara).
Translation of the letter
Onorevole Ministro Carrozza,
come classe di una scuola superiore di Pescara, ci troviamo dall’inizio dell’anno scolastico coinvolti nel
vivace dibattito sulla scuola, ed in particolar modo sul futuro delle scuole pubbliche e sul ruolo attuale
dell’istruzione. Le recenti marce e gli scioperi organizzati in molte città italiane ed estere sono stati il
nostro grido di speranza per far udire la nostra voce. Siamo tutti consapevoli che le politiche di Governo
siano spesso dettate da circostanze a volte indipendenti dalla nostra volontà (considerando l’attuale grave
situazione economica di crisi che sembra di fatto ancora lontana da facili risoluzioni), eppure vorremmo
timidamente avanzare qualche richiesta: «Non fate morire la scuola pubblica», siamo tutti figli della nostra
nazione e vorremmo ancora poter difendere i colori della legalità, dell’onestà, della democrazia, come pure
il diritto a ricevere un’istruzione libera, ideali questi nei quali siamo cresciuti e che abbiamo sempre
ritenuto giusti e legittimi fino ad oggi. Ci sentiamo scoraggiati come generazione e, nel guardare ad un
futuro prossimo, ci sentiamo saccheggiati del nostro diritto alla felicità. Vediamo nuvole minacciose
all’orizzonte e ci vediamo «esiliati», nel nutrire una qualche speranza di sopravvivenza (considerando
come necessari almeno il diritto ad un lavoro, ad una famiglia, alla salute). La condizione di salute di una
società inizia dalla scuola. Se l’Italia continuerà, insieme alle altre nazioni europee a tagliare
sull’istruzione, le nostre abilità, i nostri talenti e la nostra intelligenza saranno definitivamente sepolti. Se i
Governi non considerano questi punti, noi non potremo evitare le conseguenze di una crisi più profonda che
non è semplicemente finanziaria, ma che condizionerà negativamente società ed istituzioni. Salvaguardare
il futuro con politiche giuste ci aiuta a preservare ordine e stabilità. Investire sulle risorse intellettive delle
persone e sulle loro abilità, incoraggiando la ricerca, renderà il nostro paese abbastanza competitivo da
fronteggiare le eventuali sfide sociali, economiche, politiche, culturali. La mancanza di appropriati
investimenti ci guiderà, al contrario, ad un prevedibile inaridimento di risorse intellettive, con disastrose
ripercussioni sulla motivazione e su scarse possibilità di impiego per tutti noi. La ricerca è un «dovere» per
il futuro della nostra nazione e, se vogliamo accrescere la competitività, dobbiamo trovare sempre nuove
risorse su cui investire, altrimenti l’Italia si trasformerà presto in un paese arretrato, pieno di debiti e con
modestissime possibilità di miglioramenti sociali, politici ed economici. Questa lettera vuol essere il nostro
personale contributo all’esercizio di un diritto/dovere di cittadinanza attiva e partecipata, con la speranza
di non essere lasciati soli o di essere addirittura estromessi dal progresso, abbandonando così la speranza
verso quelli che dovrebbero essere i nostri «diritti inalienabili»: la libertà, la vita, l’uguaglianza e
soprattutto il raggiungimento della felicità.
Le porgiamo i più distinti saluti,
La prof.ssa Roberta Miscia e la classe I A del Liceo Scientifico «G. Galilei» (di Pescara).
School emergencies
Many Italian schools still today present the following urgencies:
a) Old buildings with sodden classroom walls
b) Roofs with water seeping through , which require urgent repairs
c) Classrooms plagued by damp which comes through the walls
d) Classes often draughty, especially in winter (not all school windows are
double-glazed)
e) Plaster falls from the ceiling and lack of adequate safety
f) Children’s toilets with sewage problems
g) Budget cuts for resources and staff development (need for teaching
assistants for laboratories, lack of necessary tools and equipment)
h) Growth in the classroom population up to an average of 28-30 students
per class, which means no sufficient space left for each pupil to feel at ease
i) Progressive cuts to our schools with projects or additional courses which
require family contributions
j) Lack of proper gyms to do sports activities and the list is not over…
«Education for the masses, not just for ruling classes»
Open the gates to a school
which faces the future
Policies of austerity…
Do you want us
«IGNIORANT»?
What are we fighting for?
The worrying consequences of cuts
Cuts are worsening inequalities for students, offering
better opportunities to those pupils whose families can
afford to finance additional courses, which will give
their children more successful results. The other part of
school population will remain in this sense
underpriviliged, having not enough money to fund
different initiatives. In the 2012 spending review, the
Government has announced a «freeze», in cash terms,
of funding per pupil. Schools have been asked to find
considerable sums of money in savings between 20122015 with progressive cuts on the complessive budget.
The privatization of higher education is forcing out
poorer students: with tuition fees and the marketization
of schools and universities.
We must confess…
…That we are ANGRY!
Liceo Scientifico di Stato
«G. Galilei»
Pescara
A. S. 2012-2013
Produced by:
The English Teacher: Roberta Miscia & class: I A
Abbatantuoni J., Bafile M., Belfiglio B., Brandalise D., Buccella I., Celli A.,
Chiavetta L., Cimaglia A., Colangelo I., Demce A., Di Battista E., Di Felice
L., Di Martino G., Ferrante L., Lauriola M. P., Lemme E., Pavone A., Rosini
D., Sairu A., Sammassimo C., Sangiorgio A., Santarelli M. V., Sclocco S.,
Simone A., Sulaj A., Vespasiano F., Domizio F.
English teacher: Prof.ssa Miscia Roberta