Slovenians schools in Italy not part of school network optimisation
Trieste, 18 January - Slovenian schools in Italy will not be affected by the government's drive to streamline the school network planned until 2027 when Italy is complete its education reform as part of the national recovery and resilience plan. Slovenian minority organisations have welcomed the decision, which was published on Thursday.
Ljubljana
A class room.
Photo: Nebojša Tejić/STA
File photo
When the reform started being planned in 2023, it was expected that several posts of headteachers would be abolished.
It was also said that three schools with Slovenian as teaching language in the region of Friuli Venezia Giulia would close in 2024-2027, which would reduce the number of these schools to eleven.
However, Italian government adopted a regulation on Tuesday setting down the optimisation of the school network which does not include Slovenian schools, reported Primorski Dnevnik, the main newspaper of the Slovenian ethnic minority in Italy.
Welcoming the news, the SKGZ, one of the minority's umbrella organisations, said Slovenia and its Ambassador to Italy Matjaž Longar's efforts were key to the development.
It also credited some other Italian politicians of Slovenian descent, including Senator Tatjana Rojc, and Marko Pisani from Friuli Venezia Giulia.
The SSk, the only Slovenian political party in Italy, said the development was also facilitated by a visit it paid to Education Minister Giuseppe Valditara in December.
It said Valditara had promised to seek solutions and had kept his promise, which bodes well for addressing other open issues.
The SSk said the fact that Slovenian schools will not be subject to the reform means they can look forward to a more stable future.