School, the "Let's overcome the gaps" portal presented with the Regions involved in the Plan to reduce the territorial gaps in education
This morning the Deputy Minister of Education Anna Ascani presented, together with the National Institute of Documentation, Innovation and Educational Research (INDIRE) and the National Institute for the Evaluation of the Education and Training System (INVALSI) and with the Regions involved in the Intervention Plan for the reduction of territorial gaps in education (Calabria, Campania, Puglia, Sardinia, Sicily), the "Let's overcome the gaps" portal, created by the MI in collaboration with the social enterprise "With children". Minister for the South and Territorial Cohesion Giuseppe Provenzano also attended the meeting.
The Portal, which will be accessible starting from the next school year on the website of the Ministry of Education, is a tool aimed at schools in the areas in greater difficulty and will serve to coordinate activities and project proposals aimed at overcoming territorial gaps in the processes of learning.
“Intervening on the territorial gaps existing in our country - declared the Deputy Minister of Education Anna Ascani - is a priority for the Ministry. On this we are constantly engaged with Minister Azzolina. During the most critical weeks of this epidemic, the Italian school did an extraordinary job, but the fragility of the system emerged more clearly. We cannot afford to leave anyone behind, because Italy can only return to growth if everyone is enabled to do their part and make their contribution. This is why I considered the Plan necessary and we have not stopped working on it despite the lockdown. Through the Portal we now enter the heart of the program and create a privileged meeting place for all the actors involved, in which to share existing good practices, giving concrete tools to schools and territories to intervene on critical issues. We will monitor the implementation of the Plan, to be sure of the effectiveness of the actions that will be implemented. Territorial cohesion must be rebuilt starting from the school to relaunch the country ".
“There is a profound coincidence - underlined Minister Provenzano - between the objectives of this Program and the general structure of the Plan for the South that we are following and which has become part of the National Reform Plan. Investing in human capital is essential to break the unfortunately existing link between poverty and child educational poverty, a real modern scandal. We cannot continue to let go of the idea that the development of an individual is determined by the context in which he is born and grows up. It is an injustice. And the country needs everyone's commitment at this stage to start over. We will not miss our support in the implementation of the Plan: it is important to give substance to the interventions as soon as possible to reverse the course and obtain results as soon as possible ".
Through the Portal, Regional School Offices, Departments, Bodies and subjects participating in the initiative will have available informative, cognitive and financial materials useful for the realization of territorial initiatives to enhance students' skills and will be able to compare existing projects and to plan, for intervene with a systemic approach.
The Portal will consist of a public part and a private part. The latter will be available to schools that will be able to share good practices and collaborate to improve students' skills.