A simple letter, written in the words of a little girl, was addressed to the Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni by Tiziana, ten years old, a fifth grade student, resident in Filicudi, in the Aeolian Islands, who will have to leave the island to attend middle school.
Tiziana is about to end the school year and for her, this milestone coincides with a profound uncertainty: continuing to study would mean leaving her home, her grandparents, her friends, and that island that represents her world. The reason is simple: the preparation course for middle school exams no longer exists in Filicudi. An educational void that transforms a fundamental right into an almost insurmountable obstacle.
The institutions responded to the requests of Tiziana’s mother with a clear position: it is not possible to send eight teachers for just one student. «I’m about to finish fifth grade and I’m very sad and worried – Tiziana writes to the prime minister – As perhaps I shouldn’t be. In my island, for a few years now, there has no longer been the CPE which was a preparation course for middle school exams. I asked, together with my mother, that it be restarted, for me and for the students who will come in the next few years. We were told that 8 teachers cannot be sent to the island for just one student. But they don’t know that here, the CPE has always moved forward with only two teachers. I heard that after 20 years, the mayor of Lipari reopened the primary school of Ginostra for just one girl and the childhood section of Alicudi for two non-islander children.”
«Me too, President, I don’t want to leave. I want to stay with my grandparents, on my island, with my friends and with my mother who works here. I am only 10 years old and I ask to have the same opportunities given to other children” adds the girl. In the Aeolian Islands for years, flexible systems such as multi-classes and the use of teachers for disciplinary areas have guaranteed quality education even in contexts with few students. The recent reopening of schools in Ginostra (Stromboli) and Alicudi demonstrates that, when there is political and institutional will, solutions can be found