The Minister of Education and Merit, Giuseppe Valditara, signed the decree which allocates 400 million euros to finance inclusion, sociality and skills enhancement activities for the period of summer suspension of lessons. The provision, which affects the 2023/24 and 2024/25 school years, is intended for state and private non-commercial primary and secondary schools. The resources, 80 million euros more than the project of the previous two-year period, will make it possible to activate paths that could interest, based on the schools' proposals, between 800 thousand and 1.3 million students; 1.714 million additional hours of activity.
The audience of recipients and the duration of the courses can be further expanded by schools thanks to agreements with local authorities, universities, voluntary and third sector organisations, sports associations and families themselves, following the example of the best practices already developed on the basis of school autonomy. This is foreseen in the circular to schools signed by the Minister today.
"We promised it last year and now, also thanks to a substantial increase in funds, we are able to implement an expanded and renewed summer plan. Our objective", declares Valditara, "is a school that is a point of reference for students and for families even in the summer, with sports, recreational activities, workshops or strengthening activities, using all the positive synergies possible, from local authorities to third sector associations. A school", declares Minister Valditara, "that is increasingly an open place , an integral part of the community throughout the year, carrying out aggregation and training activities especially for children and young people who, in the summer, cannot count on other experiences of personal enrichment and growth due to the work needs of their parents or particular family situations".