The measure reaches the Congress of State today, with a meeting with teachers scheduled for October 8. A three-year trial is set to begin in 2027. A tender is also in the works for twenty or thirty mobile air conditioning units for schools.
The shorter school week at the Scuola Media (middle school) has taken concrete shape, and the process now has a timeline.
At yesterday afternoon’s session of the Constitutional Affairs Committee (Commissione Affari Costituzionali), the Secretary of State for Education and Culture, University and Scientific Research, and Youth Policies, Teodoro Lonfernini, outlined the model that has been settled on: five school days a week with no afternoon return sessions, comprising thirty class periods plus two additional slots dedicated to team teaching and in-depth study.
The measure reaches the Congress of State today, while discussions with the Teachers’ Council (Collegio dei docenti) are scheduled for Thursday, October 8. The goal is a three-year trial starting in 2027.
Air conditioning: a tender by spring
The debate became entangled with concerns over the condition of school buildings, raised by Carlotta Andruccioli (Domani Motus Liberi), who cited a petition signed by around a thousand parents calling for air conditioning systems to be installed in school buildings.
“If the intention is to reform and modernise the school model,” the councillor observed, “it is absolutely essential that this be accompanied by adequate structural and logistical upgrades.” The underlying issue is clear: there is talk of extending the school calendar into June and starting earlier in September — precisely the hottest months.
Maria Katia Savoretti (Repubblica Futura) pressed for updates on the same matters, insisting on the need for “a direct and immediate point of reference in this Chamber from the Secretary responsible for the area.”
Lonfernini announced a first step by next spring: a tender for the purchase of twenty or thirty mobile cooling and air conditioning units, representing an investment of several tens of thousands of euros. Alongside this, he explained, a longer-term structural programme for school buildings will need to get under way.
On the Sammarinese Music Institute (Istituto Musicale Sammarinese), the Secretary announced that the implementing decree meant to address the issues that have emerged is about to be signed.
SportInFiera: Lonfernini says “I accept it, but I still disagree”
The session also touched on the fallout from the SportInFiera affair. Maria Donatella Merlini (PSD) expressed “deep regret” over the statement issued by the Congress of State following the Teachers’ Council’s decision to withhold second- and third-year middle school classes from the event.
Merlini defended the schools’ autonomy, arguing that the decision should not have been turned into “a full-blown political case or a matter of State,” and calling for the restoration of “a calm and constructive dialogue between institutions.”
Lonfernini rejected that interpretation, reaffirming his respect for the Council’s autonomy while standing by his substantive objection: “I accept the decision, then, and I won’t get drawn into controversy, but I still disagree with it.” He recalled that SportInFiera has been a community-wide event for 28 years and announced that next year he will work to broaden school participation, extending it to include primary schools and possibly secondary schools as well.
