Teachers, students protest school reform, Renzi 'listening'

(ANSA) - Rome, May 4 - Tens of thousands of teachers and students took to the streets in seven Italian cities Tuesday as part of a nationwide strike to protest the government's so-called Good School reform bill.
    The main rally kicked off in Rome, where union organizers said 100,000 people took to the streets, while marches also took place in Aosta, Bari, Cagliari, Catania, Palermo, and Milan, where organizers said 30,000 turned out.
    Among the main peeves are the fact that while the bill calls for 100,000 permanent hires, some 50,000 temp teachers will be sacked.
    Critics also object to measures that would concentrate power in the hands of school principals, that would call for public schools to fundraise in the private sector, and for an increase in work-study programs - a move critics say will deflect the public school system from its primary duty, which is to impart an education. The Good School reform "favors the wealthy and divides the precarious," said CGIL trade union federation leader Susanna Camusso.
    "Our bill would bring temporary teacher contracts down to 2.5% of the total (from 18% in 2007)," Education Minister Stefania Giannini replied.
    "We're removing that portion of instability that has hindered the Italian school system..and violently affected so many lives". "The bill is open (to being amended)," the minister added, appearing to downplay the possibility of calling a confidence vote to ram the measure through parliament. "We believe education to be a central tenet of this government's political agenda and the central good of the community", she said.
    For his part, Premier Matteo Renzi said the government is not questioning the value of a humanistic education. "The school system's job is to educate not only (future) workers but also citizens - to awaken the emotions poetry can inspire," Renzi said in the northern city of Bolzano, where he was on a State visit and also putting in an appearance in support of local Democratic Party (PD) mayoral candidates. "None of us wish to question the great model of classical education...but we are also talking about internships and a dual work-study system". Renzi added his government "wants to copy the Aldo Adige region's dual work-study model" because it helps bring unemployment down. "Faced with 44% youth unemployment, shall we merely pull a sad face or try to change?" the reformist premier said. Renzi also said the government is "ready to listen and debate" the bill.
    "We will continue the debate...about which categories get hired and about the organization of the school system," Renzi said of the bill, which now goes to the House education committee and is expected on the floor of the Lower House May 15.