Achieve the goal of a thousand new canteens to help schools expand full-timeresponding to the unsatisfied needs of the territories. The municipalities, for the primary schools, the provinces and metropolitan cities, for the boarding schools, have time until 6.00 pm on 6 September 2024 to respond to the Public Notice launched today by the Ministry of Education and Merit for a spending commitment, within the PNRR, of 515 million and 481 thousand euros.
“Investing in canteens means allowing schools to extend full-time hours, for the benefit of students but also of families and working women. A need that is particularly felt in the South, to which we have allocated at least 40% of the resources. Our goal – declares the Minister of Education and Merit, Giuseppe Valditara – is a school in which all students, regardless of their starting conditions and place of residence, have the same opportunities for educational success. This is also how Italy comes together”. Currently, in fact, from the data of the Single School Data Portal – School Building Area, it emerges that in the South only 26% of the institutes that host primary schools have a canteen, compared to 54% in the Centre-North, and only 38% of the institutes that host nursery schools have a canteen, compared to 65% in the Centre-North. The call specifies that new construction, demolition and reconstruction, safety and redevelopment and reconversion interventions are eligible for funding.
The works must be awarded by 31 January 2025, delivered by 31 March 2025, completed by 31 March 2026 and tested by 31 June 2026. Local authorities must also commit to maintaining the school use of the buildings subject to financing for at least five years and the canteens must be sized according to the number of students who will benefit from them.
