Education: Hope for newcomers in Europe
3. Trade union actions
Italian education trade unions have been particularly active in the establishment of the so-called funds for schools located in “areas at risk” mentioned above, that include areas with high rates of immigration. Every year, these funds are subject to collective bargaining both at national and regional levels, to decide the amount available for each region and on which criteria schools can apply. Other public funding sources (e.g. Law 440/199769) are negotiated with union representatives at school level. Most recently, the education union UIL Scuola, has developed several initiatives to promote the right to education for migrant children. In collaboration with the union confederation, Unione Italiana del Lavoro (UIL), and its patronato, ITAL-UIL70, UIL Scuola has published a brochure in several languages (Italian, English, Spanish, Romanian, Arabic, and Chinese) to inform newcomer parents about children’s right to be enrolled in school and to explain the administrative procedures (documents to be provided, etc.). In addition, a series of initiatives have been carried out at local level. In Rovigo, the union has sensitised local authorities about the importance of cultural and linguistic mediators. In Sicily, in collaboration with its professional training institute, IRASE (Istituto per la Ricerca Accademica, Sociale ed Educativa), the union is developing three capacity building projects comprising training and tutoring activities for teachers and education support personnel as well as workshops for migrant and refugee children. In Palermo, the Direzione Didattica Edmond De Amicis (pre-primary and primary school), bringing together students from 15 different nationalities, aims to build a “welcome culture” in the school. In particular, the project will develop a systematised procedure to welcome migrant students upon arrival. It will organise a 30-hour training programme, delivered with the support of a linguistic-cultural mediator, to a specific team of 10 “front-office” administrative staff and teachers (“welcome commission”). Beneficiaries of the training will acquire linguistic and relational competences: basic languages skills, 69
“Istituzione del Fondo per l’arricchimento e l’ampliamento dell’offerta formativa e per gli interventi perequativi”, Legge 18 dicembre 1997, n. 440.
70
In Italy, a Patronato is an institute emanating from a trade union or an employer organisation, that provides assistance to and safeguards the individual rights of all citizens present on the national territory.
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