Children absent from school in Vittoria, 98 other parents reported: “The fault of isolation and distance learning”

Behind such an enormous number, a social problem can only be hidden: 48 parents were denounced by the carabinieri of Vittoria in recent days, another 98 yesterday, for failing to comply with compulsory schooling for their children. They are mainly foreign laborers who work in the vegetable greenhouses that stretch out in the Ragusa area. “It is the fault of isolation and distance learning”, say local principals and social workers.

The carabinieri checked the registers of primary and secondary schools and noticed that many students had almost never gone to school. They also reported the cases to social workers, knowing that there are objective difficulties to be addressed in this area. Vittoria Lombardo, head of the comprehensive John XXIII institute, is well acquainted with the context, who went out of her way not to lose anyone: “Until a couple of years ago there was a project that allowed a cooperative to take the children who lived in the farthest corners of the countryside. Then the funding ran out and many were unable to come, because the parents have no means and work in the greenhouses all day, not for lack of will “.

Until before the pandemic, the principal and other teachers tried to follow them by going home when they could. Covid has blocked everything. “The children were delighted to come and their parents even more”, concludes the principal. The Municipality of Vittoria, a police station for mafia infiltration, has nine minibuses for a huge territory, it has rented one to try to serve the countryside, but it is tough, with a budget in the red. “Four more vehicles should arrive soon, to lend a hand,” said commissioner Filippo Dispenza.

There is not only the difficulty of transport. Taking lessons from a distance is not easy in these no-man’s lands. “Often the connection does not work or the children are alone at home and have objective difficulties in using, if they have them, the tablets that have been provided”, says Vincenzo La Monica of Caritas. He and the other operators animate a garrison in Marina di Acate and organize an after-school program for the children of the laborers: “The numbers of the carabinieri have also affected us, they are enormous”.

In order to address the issue of illegal hiring and the isolation of laborers, tables were set up in the Prefecture. There is also a plan to offer decent accommodation to those who live in the Ragusa countryside.