Dear Minister Azzolina, do not be afraid of losing a political challenge: close everything before it is too late!

Minister’s Path Azzolina,

I allow myself to use the confidential “you” in public to be more direct and not hypocritical. For a teacher (you know, having been a teacher) there is nothing more satisfying than the gaze of his students. When I walk into the classroom and they yell “Master AlexWith a smile on her face, the excitement skyrockets. When Fatima greets me like a sailor joking with me saying “Captain”, I really feel at the helm of a crew and I feel all the responsibility on my shoulders.

There is nothing that can replace the moments when you walk between the desks, when you sit (with a mask) between them or when you find yourself playing in the interval having fun like a child. Stand behind a screen it does not allow you to crouch on the ground to watch a movie about Athenian philosophers showing them that your body, your gaze are interested as if it were the first time you have seen that lesson.

In recent weeks, despite the masks that cover their faces, I have found the eyes of my students and their parents in front of the bars; I comforted those who wept over a check (certainly not made by me) that went wrong; Once again I heard who hums while I’m teaching; I saw the paper airplanes fly down the stairs; I had my jacket again, propped up on the chair, stained with white chalk, and I heard again the bell that marks the beginning of sleep and the crackle of the end of the day.

All this to tell you, dear Lucia, that nothing can replace classroom teaching. But this is not the time to be stubborn, to win any political challenges. Closing high school is now a preventative measure necessary. Conte was right to sign the new Dpcm: a responsible choice. I am not a scientist but I trust the president of the Accademia dei Lincei and the other hundred scientists who have called for drastic interventions immediately so as not to reach 500 deaths a day.

Of course, more could have been done in transport, but it has not been done and, according to his colleague Minister Paola De Micheli, airplanes, boats, buses and trains have not contributed to the increase in infections. Of course, school is a safe place. Maybe not the safest. Let’s face it: masks are used but distancing, in most cases, is hypocrisy. Those who enter the classroom, especially with the little ones, will admit it if they are sincere. The static mouth gauge reaches a thickness of 80 or 50 centimeters.

Of course, there is no point in closing schools to leave bars and pubs open during the day in the name of the god of money. Now is late. Too late. We cannot and do not want to review the lines of military trucks carrying coffins. We cannot and cannot stop repeating the number of deaths of last Saturday several times: 151 in one day. I repeat: 151. You may not like it, but the distance learning option in high school is necessary. In any case, the problem is: we are ready to go back to lessons at home?

Beyond the nonsense of those who now want teachers to do their hours from empty classrooms, putting the network of institutes in crisis, Have we thought about what distance learning we want? Do we now know how many children still do not have devices? Are we able this time to put in place a strategy that can also involve the 20% of students we lost last spring? Dad is not a monster. It is not Satan. Those who can teach in class can also do it in front of a screen. No more time for useless workgroups led by those who wanted to make your shoes.

The second part of this film needs pedagogues who work alongside the teachers, the directors. Not only. We must frankly tell ourselves that sadly, in a few weeks we may have to resort to distance education also in first cycle school. It could be a preventive action to be used for one or two months and then check the contagion curve.

We cannot rule it out and we must take advantage of this time to prepare for a possible new educational challenge. It is not entirely true that children do not use public transport: in large cities they do not move on foot. Every day thousands of teachers, teachers and secondary school teachers have to use public transport to get to schools: it is a risk that we cannot take.

Scientists tell us that children get sick but are asymptomatic: do we want to bring the virus to families? Of course in primary school, especially in the first grades, dad is not the best tool to teach but then perhaps it is worth thinking about a school in presence for the youngest children and leaving them from 9 years to 13 can stay home. It may also be necessary to monitor the territory and take ad hoc measures by areas.

Dear Minister, in March you showed that you do not have to answer to anyone by giving priority to health and at the same time guaranteeing education as far as possible, closing schools. Now don’t be afraid of losing a political challenge. Do you remember that song? “Nino, don’t be afraid of missing a penalty. It is not on these details that a player is judged. You see a player with courage, altruism and imagination ”. Now it is your turn to show us courage, selflessness and imagination.

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