The constitutional court in Catania, Sicily, has ruled that the state should provide textbooks for private primary schools, following a test action by a group of parents.
The ruling said: “The provision of schoolbooks is directly related to the successful outcome of compulsory schooling and should have no connection with the personal economic circumstances of pupils.”
In the state system books are issued free to pupils in the scuola elementare (primary school) but have to be bought for scuola media (lower secondary school). Parents of 11-year-olds moving up to scuola media are likely to have to spend more than Pounds 100.
The Catania ruling has been greeted with enthusiasm by education minister Francesco D’Onofrio who said that since better-off parents pay more in taxes, they should not have to pay for books simply because they choose to send their children to a private school (in most cases, “private” means Roman Catholic).
He has some support from both ends of the political spectrum. Emanuele Barbieri of the teachers’ union CGIL, which is affiliated to the PDS (ex-communist) party, said there should be no discrimination between pupils on any grounds.
“It isn’t only the wealthy who send their children to private schools. Some parents prefer schools such as the Montessori or Steiner schools for the methods they use,” he said.
Last year Silvio Berlusconi’s Forza Italia party built its education manifesto on opening up access to the private sector. But when the party came to power in an uneasy alliance with the Northern League separatists and Alleanza Nazionale (former fascists), the issue slipped into the background.
Proposals for the introduction of vouchers that parents could “spend” in the state or private sector, and for teachers in private schools to be paid for by the education ministry, were rapidly shelved once they had been costed.
Sig D’Onofrio has now encouraged parents of pupils in private secondary schools to start their legal challenge as pupils at state schools have their meals and transport subsidised. “What is fair for one type of school should be fair for all,” he said.
* The initial stage of a Bill to make university dons more accountable to their students has been approved. Students will be able to assess their teachers’ performances regularly and three consecutive negative “scores” could lead to dismissal.
The Bill is expected to have a rough ride, however, as a large number of MPs are university teachers.
