BOLZANO. Surprise: the Italian school board has set up a task force of technicians to plan a bilingual school modelif not even trilingual. A solution that could save both the goat and the cabbage in the tangle of the South Tyrol of the third millennium, where Italian families send their children to German schools, and the German school for its part complains of excessive pressure on classes.
The working group
While the German School is patiently waiting for the work of the internal group at the SVP to overcome solutions such as that of the Goethe case, the Italian School has also been silently at work for a few weeks. A working group is exploring possible legislative options to introduce a new model, to be placed alongside the traditional Italian school, where a thousand projects are made to try to ensure that pupils have an adequate knowledge of German. There is no time frame. However, there is the line dictated by the competent assessor, the vice-president Mark Etiquette: «It is believed that we must act quickly». Quickly but also «ensuring a thorough reflection to obtain a positive long-term impact». Galateo wrote this in response to a question from Madeleine Rohrerof the Greens.
New teachers
The topic is the teaching of subjects also in German in Italian schools, in addition to subjects already taught in the second language. The working group has in the Intendancy’s projects “the task of exploring all available options and evaluating the best solutions to integrate the teaching of multiple languages within the educational system, taking into account the needs of our students”. It’s all still in embryonic stagea study and an in-depth evaluation of the project’s feasibility will be needed. Also because new hires may be necessary, an increase in staff “especially to guarantee the presence of qualified teachers in both languages”, the vice president of the Province assures. A detailed analysis is underway of the exact number of teachers who will be needed (in any case graduates: in Italian schools it is a requirement). Certainly – because the councilor puts it in black and white – the teachers who will give lessons in German “will have to have a linguistic certification of an adequate level, and, possibly, previous teaching experience”. The technicians are also evaluating which subjects can actually be taught in German. Whether teaching in the second language will be partial and whether the co-presence of an Italian language teacher will be necessary is still a matter of study.
The final decision
“At the end of the work, the study group will present a report,” the superintendent says. Vincenzo Gullotta. We will also consult with the schools. Then we will have to decide if and when to leave. Galateo makes it clear that “the final decision will be taken by the provincial council”. It will be the executive, therefore, to draw conclusions and cross-reference the operations underway in the Italian and German schools.
2024-09-22 15:57:35