Disinformation is one of the most serious risks of our time, constantly at the top of international analysis reports on sociopolitical scenarios, capable, according to the World Economic Forum, of threatening democratic stability and trust in institutions.
One of the places in which this risk can be effectively combated is school, facilitating the dissemination of verified information and, above all, teaching how to recognize and research it, building an audience that grows and is educated with awareness.
And precisely to bring quality information back into the classroom – concretely supporting schools that purchase subscriptions to newspapers or magazines, and therefore indirectly also the publishing industry – the program strongly desired by Undersecretary Alberto Barachini and launched by the Publishing Information Department continues, which in recent days has issued the new call for admission to the contribution (provided for by art. 1, paragraph 389 of law 27 December 2019, no. 160, as replaced by art. 1, paragraph 320 of law 30 December 2023, n. 213) in favor of state and private educational institutions, which for the 2026/2027 school year purchase one or more subscriptions to daily newspapers, periodicals and scientific and sector magazines, including in digital format.
The measure, established in 2020 and now fully operational, was modified by art. 1, paragraph 320 of law no. 213 of 2023, which provided for a single contribution in favor of all educational institutions of all levels, state and private, to support the expense of purchasing season tickets, linked to the school year and no longer to the calendar year.
The applications, digitally signed by the school director and addressed to the Department for Information and Publishing, can be submitted from 10 December 2026 to 15 March 2027, for expenses incurred in the period between 1 September 2026 and 26 February 2026 and approved by the Teaching Body. The General Directorate for Students, Inclusion and School Orientation of the Ministry of Education and Merit defines the methods of electronic transmission.
The notice was issued pursuant to Article 4 of the Prime Ministerial Decree of 24 July 2024, adopted in agreement with the Ministry of Education and Merit, which, by providing the criteria and application provisions for accessing the contribution for educational institutions, innovated the regulation with a view to procedural simplification desired by Barachini to facilitate the institutes and broaden the diffusion of the measure.
Requests for clarification exclusively via ordinary email to the dedicated mailbox: (email protected).
For any information to educational institutions, the contact details of Società Editrice Sud Gazzetta del Sud Giornale di Sicilia are also available: telephone 0902261 and email (email protected) And (email protected).
Here is the announcement
https://www.formazioneeditoria.gov.it/media/ttkcppys/bando-scuole-anno-2026-2027_09092026-signed.pdf
About
https://www.formazioneeditoria.gov.it/it/notizie/sostegno-alle-scuole-per-l-acquisition-di-abbonamenti-ai-quotidiani-periodici-e-riviste-scientifiche-e-di-settore-per-lanno-scolastico-20262027/
Last year over a thousand schools obtained 732,375 euros
An action that certainly still needs to be implemented: for the last school year, 1044 requests were received from educational institutions of all levels, divided into 907 requests from state institutions and 137 from private institutions. The total amount granted was equal to 732,375 euros, out of the two million also allocated for the last year.
A fact that makes us reflect on the need to increasingly strongly support the promotion of these tools, persevering in offering them to schools and increasingly involving the school system in the profitable use of these resources. In particular, by making managers and teachers responsible for the priority role, on the one hand in building skills for young people that also involve the correct reading of current affairs through verified information, on the other in supporting a sector, such as the publishing sector, which constitutes a backbone of every democratic system and which today suffers greatly from a generalized crisis, also determined by economic mechanisms and linked to the impact of technology. A front, that of the commitment to promoting quality information in schools, on which Società Editrice Sud is also particularly active with all its newspapers between Sicily and Calabria.
For further information: the legislation in detail
Article 1, paragraphs 389 to 392, of law 27 December 2019, n. 160 recognized contributions in favor of educational institutions and students for the purchase of subscriptions to newspapers, periodicals and scientific and sector magazines, for a total amount of up to 20 million euros per year. The amount of total resources to be allocated to contributions is established annually with the Decree of the President of the Council of Ministers referred to in article 1, paragraph 6, of law no. 26 October 2016. 198, within the resources of the Fund for pluralism and information innovation intended for interventions under the responsibility of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers.
Article 1, paragraph 389, of law 27 December 2019, n. 160, as replaced by article 1, paragraph 320, of law 30 December 2023, n. 213, recognized a contribution in favor of educational institutions, state and private, of all levels, up to 90 percent of the expense incurred for the purchase of subscriptions to daily newspapers, periodicals and scientific and sector magazines, including in digital format.
The decree of the President of the Council of Ministers of 24 July 2024, in agreement with the Minister of Education and Merit, regulates the methods of access to the aforementioned contribution, simplifying the administrative procedures for educational institutions and linking the purchase of editorial products to the school year and no longer to the calendar year.
By decree of the Head of the Department for Information and Publishing, a notice is adopted annually which establishes the terms and methods for sending applications, as well as the admission criteria and the amount of resources available annually.
Who can access the benefit
The contribution is recognized to state and private educational institutions of all levels of education for the purchase of subscriptions to daily newspapers, periodicals and scientific and sector magazines, in paper or digital format. The expenses incurred for the purchase of the aforementioned editorial products registered with the competent Court are eligible for the contribution, pursuant to article 5 of law no. 8 February 1948. 47, or registered in the Register of communication operators referred to in article 1, paragraph 6, letter a) number 5) of law 31 July 1997, n. 249, equipped in any case with the figure of the responsible director. The resolution of the Teaching Board which identifies, among the editorial products eligible for the contribution, the newspapers recognized as useful for educational purposes constitutes a requirement for the eligibility of the expenditure.
Expenses incurred for the purchase of subscriptions to newspapers, periodicals, scientific and sector magazines not approved by the Teaching Board are excluded from the contribution; purchasing books; the purchase of “digital lending” services for editorial products; the purchase of editorial products with purposes other than teaching, such as, by way of example only, products instrumental to the administrative-management and secretarial activities of the educational institution; the purchase of classroom management IT tools, such as applications and services dedicated to interaction and communication between students and teachers.
Determination and disbursement of the contribution
For the 2026/2027 school year, the financial allocation foreseen for the measure is 2 million euros. Based on the total number of recipients, each educational institution requesting the contribution that meets the prescribed requirements is entitled to a reimbursement of up to 90 percent of the expense incurred for the purchase of season tickets; should the amount requested exceed the limits of the available allocation, a proportional reduction will be applied among all entitled parties. The list of educational institutions to which the contribution is recognized with the amount due to each is approved by decree of the Head of the Department and published on the DIE website. The contribution is paid through bank transfers made to treasury accounts or bank accounts in the case of private schools, made out to the educational institutions and declared in the admission application.