A notice for an additional 40 million has also been published. The Ministry continues to accompany the Institutes
Today the Ministry has assigned to all schools throughout the country the 150 million allocated by the support decree that will be used for the implementation of the Summer Plan. The resources, after the necessary agreement with the Ministry of Economy and Finance, are now available and, therefore, usable by schools, with an average of 18 thousand euros per school. To this funding are added the resources (320 million total available) of the PON Notice published on April 27th and expiring on May 21st: schools are currently presenting their applications. Just as it will be possible to access the funds, 40 million in all, made available with a Notice published today as part of the activities to combat educational poverty.
Then, the work of accompanying schools in organizing the activities of the Summer Plan continues, making a total of 510 million available. Today the ministerial note relating to the financing of 150 million in the process of disbursement was sent to the educational institutions, essentially a guide to the use of these resources. In the coming weeks, further specific meetings will be organized to illustrate the different measures available to schools.
“We are working to build a bridge for the new beginning. In recent weeks, the world of school is committed to creating spaces and possibilities for enhancing the skills and recovering the sociability of female students. The Ministry is at the side of the territory and the Institutes to promote this new path and accompany the schools in designing it ”, declares the Minister of Education Patrizio Bianchi.
The 150 million of the Dl Sostegni
These are funds that are distributed to all educational institutions on the basis of the number of pupils. The note sent today clarifies how to use the resources, which are provided to support the school communities in the management of the emergency situation and in the development of activities designed to enhance the extracurricular training offer, the strengthening of basic skills, the consolidation of disciplines, recovery of sociality, of the group life of female students and students also in the period between the end of this school year and the next. A help desk will be available.
The 40 million notice for the fight against educational poverty
Forty million euros will then be assigned on the basis of a Notice published today on the Ministry's website: schools must express their interest in receiving funds destined for first and second cycle education institutes and provincial centers for education. adult education (CPIA) who find themselves in contexts of greater disadvantage or fragility in skills and where there are higher rates of dropout.
School institutions will be able to apply exclusively through a dedicated platform by 12.00 on 25 May 2021. The projects must have as their objective the fight against poverty and the educational emergency, the prevention of early school leaving, the reduction of gaps to guarantee equal opportunities. The Notice also specifies that the project proposals may concern different areas of intervention, also in relation to the three different phases of the Summer Plan: that of the enhancement of learning (in June), that of the recovery of sociability (July and August), that of welcoming (September, until the start of the lessons). In the first phase, in fact, it will be possible to program, for example, courses for the enhancement of basic, professional or technical skills, language courses and workshops, initiatives for academic or professional orientation. In the second, on the other hand, events dedicated to art, the environment, sustainability, cineforum, concerts, theatrical performances, sports activities or trips and cultural visits can be foreseen. Finally, in the last, the focus will be dedicated to the restart of the school year, it will therefore be possible to organize welcome days, workshops and psychological support laboratories, information desks. A dedicated Commission will rapidly assess the candidate projects on the basis of specific criteria defined in the Notice: the dropout rate recorded in the school during the school year, the level of basic skills, the difficulty in accessing or managing community planning, the situation of socio-economic-cultural disadvantage, the location of the school in internal areas, the involvement, in the context of the implementation of project proposals, of third sector entities or social enterprises. Each school can obtain a maximum of 40.000 euros, in the case of schools with a number equal to or greater than 600 attending pupils, and 30.000 euros with a number of attending pupils less than 600.
The call for 320 million PON funds is about to expire
To complete the allocation dedicated to the 2021 Summer Plan, the 320 million PON funds, which can be used above all in areas with greater economic and social inequalities. The deadline for submitting projects is next 21 May. The resources, of which about 70% are destined for the southern regions, can be spent until the end of the school year 2021/2022, in the logic of a transformation plan that will start in the summer and continue during the next school year. To guide schools in organizing activities and to support them in defining projects, the Ministry of Education organized three dedicated webinars in recent days, the main one of which was made available on the Ministry's YouTube channel.