SAVING A SMALL TREASURE

I once taught in a school that was forced, for political reasons, to close and I have never forgotten what a painful experience it was for staff and pupils alike. Although that was a large, British comprehensive school, a far cry from a tiny school on a very small Italian island, it gave me some idea how the one teacher and, at that time, three pupils at Italy's smallest school must have felt when it was threatened with closure in June.

Therefore I was happy to read that the school, on Alicudi in the Aeolian Islands, has been saved, despite the fact that this year it has only two pupils, in their first and third years of primary school respectively. As you might imagine, there is still only one teacher but perhaps what the pupils lack in the presence of peers is made up for by the idyllic setting in which lessons take place in good weather conditions - on a terrace with a spectacular view.

The school owes its survival largely to the efforts and determination of Mirella Fanti, the headteacher of the Istituto Scolastico Lipari 1, which coordinates schools in the area. Signora Fanti said the school had been saved because other institutions on the islands had supported it and the families involved had decided not to move from Alicudi, which now has only about 100 inhabitants. Without the school, says signora Fanti, Alicudi would be even more isolated than it already is, as the school involves itself in community activities when there are no lessons.

The story of the school has inspired the documentary film L'Ultimo Giorno / The Last Day [Zalab /Museo del Cinema di Stromboli]. Director Alberto Bougleux says that the film is dedicated not only to Alicudi but to all teachers who fight for the right of their pupils to have a modern, creative and democratic school.

Three cheers for Alicudi!

HANDS OFF THE HOLS!

It is a sad but undeniable fact that Italy, if it wishes to compete in the 21st century, has to change. The question is not so much whether it will do so, but whether it actually wants to compete. A foreigner observing the current immobile economy could be forgiven for believing that it does not but a five-minute conversation with any member of the country's young, educated, cultured but unemployed masses would lead him to reconsider, for these young people are clearly frustrated beyond endurance.

Change is often unpleasant, especially when thrust upon us by outside forces and an Italy ready to change most of its habits would not be the Italy that so many of us love so dearly, for the very things that exasperate us about the country are also those which we admire:  seemingly endless summer holidays, long lunchtime closures which always begin just as we have arrived at some tourist spot, the ability to "worry about it tomorrow", the shop assistant who holds up the queue [or what passes for a queue] by chatting to the customer for too long but at the same time shows that she cares.... aren't these the characteristics that make us all wish we were Italian?

British schoolchildren wish they were Italian too when they hear about the three-month holiday that their contemporaries enjoy here and I'm sure that they would, had they known about it, have empathised with Italian students' dismay when Mr Monti announced on Monday that a plan to curtail the school summer break was under consideration. A quick look at the Twitter feed on the subject revealed that the idea had not gone down well, to say the least, with teachers taking the news personally and working mothers, who in another country might have welcomed the proposal, up in arms. Most of the commenters seemed to be of the opinion that Italy has more urgent problems than the length of school holidays to solve.

Yet the beleaguered Mr Monti may have been on to something:  could this have been the beginning of a move to bring Italian working practices into a form which would at least be recognisable to the rest of Europe? Something to stop the British, for instance, smirking in that superior way of theirs and remarking that they "are not paying taxes to Europe so that people in the Mediterranean area can lie on the beach for three months"?

When an Italian politician suggested shortening the lunch break a few years ago there was an  outcry, particularly in the South, but those who criticise the long, leisurely family lunch forget that it is too hot down here to do anything anyway and the importance of this time for family cohesion [which, let's face it, countries like my own lack to a tragic degree]. Opening hours, however, are another matter, particularly in areas that are more than ever dependent on tourism to survive.

Yes, there is something wonderful about a country that can look disaster in the eye and then point out that it was here long before the technological age and will be here long after it but even a defender of Italy like me has to admit that the country does have a tendency to go a sunbed too far in summer.

I am able to reassure you, though, that the mothers, teachers and hard done-by schoolchildren of Italy are resting serenely in their beds tonight, for, within hours of Mr Monti's announcement, candidates on his Scelta Civica electoral list acted in unison to deny the existence of any plans to curtail the school summer holidays.  Now if only they could take such decisive action on the economy.....

SICILY BURSTS THE BUBBLE

Some soft drinks companies, particularly those whose sales mainly consist of sweetened and fizzy products, have had their bubble burst by an amendment to a new agricultural development law which has been passed by the Sicilian Regional Government:  Under this ruling, the only soft drinks that vending machines in Sicily's schools are now allowed to sell are freshly squeezed orange juice and the juice of citrus fruits grown on the island.

The purposes of the initiative are to improve the health of Sicilian children and combat obesity but members of the Italian soft drinks manufacturers' association Assobibe are not happy with the implied link between the consumption of fizzy drinks and poor health.  Staff at the Italian Ministry of Education are not bubbling over with enthusiasm at the measure either and a spokesperson said that the the initiative, though encouraging, is not enough as children need to do more exercise in order to avoid becoming obese.

I say, "Well done, Sicily!"

SICILY GETS PREPARED

Whilst you are all awaiting [as I'm sure you must be, with bated breath] the next cookery school episode, here is a nice story which Katia told me today:

All Italy is in a panic over the swine 'flu "epidemic", so yesterday afternoon Katia attended a parents' meeting on the subject at her daughter's nursery school. The parents were advised to tell their three-year-old children not to touch their mouths or ears, touch their friends, put toys near their mouths or play with their friends' toys - in short, they are not to do any of the things a three-year-old normally does hundreds of times a day. The children are to be exhorted to sneeze into a tissue and wash their hands before touching virtually anything whilst counting up to 20 . Katia was just wondering how many of her daughter's companions actually knew how to count to 20 when another mother piped up,

"My son tried to do that but the bidelli [the ubiquitous porters who keep every Italian school running] told him to hurry up!"

Moral: If you are going to issue new rules for children, it is a good idea to inform the adults who have to deal with them.

44 YEARS LATER

I nearly threw this school photograph away before moving to Sicily, as I was not happy at that particular school. Why? Partly because it’s hard to fit in when you change schools at 15 and partly because it was an all girls' school! But I have to admit we were well taught there, by women ahead of their time, and I shall be grateful for that till my dying day.

Anyway, I’m very glad that I kept it, because it has caused much fascination here, firstly among my Alberghiera class, who couldn’t believe that we really all wore uniforms or that we sat or stood still long enough for the photographer to do his work. Other teachers in the school were also interested and one remarked that it would be impossible to take a photograph like that in Italy, because no one would stand where they were supposed to, be still for a moment or stop chattering to hear the photographer’s instructions! [I did point out that it was 44 years ago and we were a little easier to discipline than kids would be now.] All this inspired me to get the picture framed and I collected it this morning. A roomful of people in the art shop saw it when it was brought out from the workroom and they all shook my hand and congratulated me on having such a fine photo.

So there we all are on that summer’s day so long ago, young girls with our lives ahead of us, a generation that had not known war and which took university entry as our birthright. Which one is me? If you’ve seen the photo on my facebook pages, you will know; otherwise I’ll just give you the section - I'm not telling!

DRUGS POLICE IN SCHOOLS?

Two weeks ago a 15-year-old boy died at school in Milan after smoking a joint which appears to have contained traces of crack cocaine. Now the Mayor of Milan has offered drugs test kits to parents who want them and the Health Minister wants to send the "health police" [Nas] into schools to check for drugs. The latter move has caused uproar , with parents and teachers saying they are perfectly capable of monitoring the situation themselves. What do you think?

You can read more here.