Present and future of private schools, between challenges and new opportunities

Relaunching the importance of educational pluralism, defending the freedom of choice of families and protecting the right of young people to learn without suffering any discrimination. Around these social urgencies, the conference "Present and future of private schools, between challenges and new opportunities" was held today at the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, in Milan.

The event, promoted by the ALTIS Graduate School of Sustainable Management and the  CESEN Center for Studies on Ecclesiastical Entities of Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, under the patronage of the National Council of the Catholic School, began with the institutional greetings of Prof. Franco Anelli, Rector of the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart and Prof. Vito Moramarco, Director of ALTIS.

MINISTER VALDITARA

The Minister of Education and Merit, Giuseppe Valditara, took part in the work and said: "When we talk about educational freedom, in addition to Article 33 of the Constitution, we must refer to Article 30, which affirms the natural right of parents to educate their children. For this reason, the state makes public education available, which is based on an integrated system between state and private schools."
"Starting from 2024 ," the Minister announced, "we will increase the contribution for private schools by 110 million per year, of which 70 million are dedicated to supporting disabled pupils. True equality – Valditara recalled – consists, in fact, in putting all students, whether they are in state or private schools, in the same conditions. Without hateful discrimination, especially that concerning the most fragile pupils.
The Minister then announced: "The other major step in the creation of an integrated education system is the implementation of total equality between the teacher who teaches in private schools and those who teach in state schools", to conclude that the goal is to "Personalized education and instruction, considering children as having talents to be discovered and enhanced, in order to give each of them the opportunity to build their own future."

ROUND TABLE

The demands that the historical moment places on private schools in the Italian education system have been highlighted from several points of view.  Prof. Andrea Perrone, Professor of Commercial Law at Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore and Director of CESEN observed: "To respond to the urgencies of the historical moment and contribute to the education of the new generations, private schools are called upon to make a qualitative leap. Educating requires head and heart. But it also requires good organization, without which the sustainability of an educational work remains exposed to important risks. The new discipline of the Third Sector can help to make this leap in quality. "Entering" the Third Sector ensures economic resources and the possibility of active collaboration with the public administration, but, at the same time, requires adequate professionalism and transparency of action. Accepting this solicitation is decisive. The duration of a private school depends on it and, therefore, on the possibility of continuing to contribute to the good of the country".

Sister Anna Monia Alfieri, Legal Representative of the Marcelline Institute of Culture and Languages, recalled how since 2000, the year of Law 62 on school equality, the private school has lost 38.11% of its students, while more than 800 institutes have ceased to exist. Furthermore, without private schools, the State would have to spend 5.6 billion to ensure the school service to over 800 thousand more pupils and another 6 billion to build new schools: "The gap between the North and the South, which has a high rate of cultural deprivation, resulting from the compression of educational pluralism, is really worrying, confirming that the risk of an educational monopoly is very real. The serious compression of educational pluralism makes the school less competitive and, therefore, of poor quality. Hence the serious damage of school dropouts, the growing number of NEETs and a South that ranks last in the OECD Pisa. The solution is to guarantee educational pluralism through certain and progressive funding lines equal to 70% of the CMS – average student cost," explained Sister Alfieri.

Mons. Claudio Giuliodori, President of the Episcopal Commission for Catholic Education, School and University , said: "The country's school system has reached a high level of educational offer, but it still remains incomplete in guaranteeing freedom of choice on the part of families and the real pluralism of subjects dedicated to the work of education. Law 62/2000 is only partially implemented: if, in line with the institutional dictate, it recognizes the freedom of students and families, on the other hand it does not provide adequate tools, especially from an economic point of view, for an effective integrated development of a public school system that can count on the contribution of state and non-state schools. The ecclesial community has spent a great deal of effort to support private schools, especially thanks to religious congregations, but the time has come to rethink the Church's educational commitment as a whole within a constructive and effective collaboration with civil society and government institutions. The commitment in the school field is one that we will certainly continue to develop, also urged by the Global Education Pact promoted by Pope Francis."