BOLZANO. The Goethe German Language Elementary School in the historic center of Bolzano introduces for the first time a first class made up only of children with migrant background.
“In a class all the students start from zero, in fact none of them speak German. I have to guarantee the teaching, but I also must not lose sight of the children whose mother tongue is German”, says the principal Christina Holzer to the daily newspaper Dolomiten. Holzer also complains that “German courses are only planned for migrants and not for Italian children, who often do not even know the language.”
The principal points out that many children with a migrant background are Italian citizens: «Of 500 students only 47 have foreign citizenshipbut 40% have language difficulties.” For this reason, one of the first three will be made up of children who do not speak German. “Perhaps the children will be more motivated because everyone is starting from scratch,” continues the head teacher.
According to the president of the SVP Dieter Steger “The path taken by the Goethe School is the only one that is not to the detriment of German children.” The secretary of the Volkspartei Harald Stauderquestioned by the newspaper, points out that in some municipalities with a strong presence of migrants «parents send their children to neighbouring towns or to private schools». Freedom Partycoalition partners of the SVP in the province, applaud the initiative: “South Tyrol cannot afford further years of empty promises and unrealizable announcements”, they write in a note.
Marco Galateo (FdI), vice president of the Province of Bolzano, does not share the same opinion as SVP: “I wonder what would have happened if a similar proposal had come from me or my party. We are faced with a decision that raises deep concerns”, who expressed himself in this way regarding the class with ‘non-German’ pupils at the Goethe elementary school, even speaking of a “ghetto”.
“This initiative – he continues – appears to be in open contrast with the constitutional dictate, which guarantees the right to education and promotes inclusion and also with the provincial government program”. According to Galateo, “the fundamental value of the Italian school is inclusion, coexistence and mutual respect between all children, regardless of their linguistic or cultural origin. Separating students based on their level of knowledge of the language not only seems to go against these principles, but risks creating unacceptable discrimination and inequalities”.
“Paradoxically, I express all my solidarity to those para-political organizations that only a year ago were demonstrating against the entry of Fratelli d’Italia into the council, but that, if they had gone to the provincial government, would now sit alongside those who support these initiatives, which unfortunately seem to reflect a mentality of exclusion and division, which I consider frankly unacceptable. We will see how it ends and if necessary we could evaluate similar projects”, concluded Galateo.
Then came the reactions of other figures in the political world of Alto Adige, such as the provincial councilor Christian Bianchi: “If it is true that at the provincial level we want to focus on inclusion, it is not acceptable that a school adopts such a drastic solution without the slightest agreement”. This is what the provincial councilor states, Christian Bianchi (Lega-Together)regarding the case of the class with non-native German-speaking students at the “Goethe” elementary school in Bolzano.
“The risk is that this project will be taken as a dangerous example, since no shared reflections have been made between the school authorities”, continues the councilor. “Certainly the problem of differences in student learning is an issue, but if alternative solutions are to be found, then there must be the participation of both linguistic groups: both to guarantee native-speaking students a quality school program, without forced simplifications, and to avoid the Italian school being considered second-rate”, concluded Bianchi.
2024-08-30 10:48:29