The Struggle in Italy<\/p>\n
Scoula per Tutti, Liberi Saperi per Tutti<\/p>\n
By Katrina Yeaw<\/p>\n
The protests that have rocked Italian universities over the past week
\nshow no sign of ending. In fact, the movement against reforms proposed
\nby the Minister of Education, Letizia Moratti, to change the Italian
\neducational system and admissions process, blocked the beginning of
\nthe academic year at many campuses and in some case resulted in the
\nfirst occupations of university buildings.<\/p>\n
The demonstrations organized by the l’Unione degli Studenti, the Union
\nof the Students that is connected to Democratici di Sinistra; Studenti
\ndi Sinistra, the Student Left that is associated with Rifondazione
\nComunista and Rete Studenti, Student Network that has a legacy with
\nleft squatter community centers, gaining the support of all the
\nstudent associations as well. The main protests have been centered in
\nRome, but demonstrations have taken place in over 70 cities including
\nMilan, Palermo, Trieste, Florence and Naples. The organizers estimate
\nthat as many as 250,000 students have participated in protests and
\nother action over the last several days. On Tuesday, symbolic
\noccupations began in the physics department in Rome and the
\nmathematics department in Florence. Then on Wednesday, 20,000
\ndemonstrated in Palermo in piazza Indipendenza, 20,000 in Rome in
\npiazza della Republica and 10,000 in Milan against “the political
\nprivatization of schools and of knowledge”.<\/p>\n
Teachers have also played a prominent role in the revolt against the
\ngovernment reforms. Nunzio Miraglia, the national coordinator of the
\nAssociation of University Teachers, exclaimed: “the protests of this
\nweek are the best answer to a minister who says she has the good of
\nthe university in mind\u2026 The university is under attack, finally
\nstudents discuss with us and they expect more from an institution and
\nthat it be democratic.”<\/p>\n
The government reforms will create eight liceo or secondary schools:
\nclassic, scientific, language, artistic, human sciences, technical,
\nmusical and economic. The professional institutes would then be
\nentrusted to the regions with four obligatory years and a fifth
\noptional one. The opposition to the reforms is rooted in the fact that
\nthey will clearly divide whose who will attend liceo, the stepping
\nstone for entrance into the university system and whose who will go to
\nprofessional institutes. The continued mobilizations of students
\nacross Italy are to make sure that that this does not become a
\nreality.<\/p>\n
The demonstrators have opened a debate beyond the proposed reforms
\nthat has begun to start a discussion about the function of the public
\nuniversity and its future in Italy. In opposition to Moratti’s
\nproposed reforms, they are demanding: 1. The implementation of
\nobligatory scholarships until age 18. 2. Institution of a national
\nlaw stating the right to study and to total access to knowledge. 3.
\nReform of the national and peripheral collegiate organs in order to
\nguarantee greater democracy and participation of the students in the
\ninstruction.<\/p>\n
However, in spite of mobilizations across the country, the
\ndemonstrators still face an uphill battle. Even in the face of
\nnational pressure expressed repeatedly by students and teachers,
\nMoratti continues to seem intent on going ahead with the government
\nreforms.<\/p>\n
Katrina Yeaw is a member of Students Against War, a chapter of the
\nCampus Antiwar Network, at San Francisco State University. She is
\ncurrently studying in Florence and can be reached at
\nKatrina.yeaw@gmail.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Struggle in Italy Scoula per Tutti, Liberi Saperi per Tutti By Katrina Yeaw The protests that have rocked Italian universities over the past week show no sign of ending. In fact, the movement against reforms proposed by the Minister of Education, Letizia Moratti, to change the Italian educational system and admissions process, blocked the… Continue reading The Struggle in Italy – Scoula per Tutti, Liberi Saperi per Tutti<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-40","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/grassrootspeace.org\/campus_antiwar_network\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/grassrootspeace.org\/campus_antiwar_network\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/grassrootspeace.org\/campus_antiwar_network\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grassrootspeace.org\/campus_antiwar_network\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grassrootspeace.org\/campus_antiwar_network\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/grassrootspeace.org\/campus_antiwar_network\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/grassrootspeace.org\/campus_antiwar_network\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grassrootspeace.org\/campus_antiwar_network\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grassrootspeace.org\/campus_antiwar_network\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}