Facebook Instagram Twitter YouTube

Students Across Italy Demand an End to Unpaid, Obligatory Internships and the Resignation of the Education Minister

High-school students took to the streets in more than 40 Italian cities on Friday in a mobilization that revives the demonstrations that broke out after the death of student Lorenzo Parelli during an unpaid “training” internship.

Giacomo Turci

February 20, 2022
Facebook Twitter Share
Italian students at a protest stand behind a banner that says “Down with this school model.”
“Down with this school model.”

Tens of thousands of students marched and protested in more than 40 cities across Italy on Friday, February 18, continuing the outbreak of angry mobilizations after the January death of 18-year-old Lorenzo Parelli, who died while working for free — as so many other students find themselves forced to work. Another student, Giuseppe Lenoci, died in Fermo on Monday, February 14, under similar circumstances.

With the tragic death of Parelli, the profound injustice of the precarious free work that Italian students have been forced to do since the Renzi government’s 2015 education reform known as La buona scuola [Good School] has finally triggered a wave of indignation that goes far beyond the student body, becoming once again a topic of debate among the masses and in the mainstream media. That there was even real journalistic coverage of Friday’s demonstrations — the mainstream media cited a figure of 200,000 participants — testifies to the fact that the state has perhaps dragged its feet on this front. The billions promised for schools as part of Europe’s Recovery Plan for Italy (PNRR) clashes with the real situation of the Italian school system: the much-needed plan for ensuring the structural integrity of buildings, most of which are more or less unsafe, has never been launched; there are still too many overcrowded “chicken coop” classrooms; too few teachers are hired, and those hired are given poorly paid, precarious jobs; and measures aimed at controlling the pandemic have proved to be insufficient and contradictory, to say the least.

The central demands in the streets were for the resignation of Minister of Public Education Patrizio Bianchi, who didn’t lift a finger after Parelli’s death, and the abolition of the PCTO, the renamed work-based “learning” program (formerly “School-Work Alternation”), the unpaid “training” work imposed on all students. The PCTO is part of an entire cycle of insecurity and impoverishment for the youth, making permanent jobs with contract guarantees a “privilege” limited to a small minority of young workers who have become accustomed to years of unpaid work as a normal, ordinary stage of their working lives.

The largest, most fiery demonstrations took place in Turin, Milan, Bologna, Rome, Naples, Palermo, and Cosenza. In the Calabrian city of Cosenza, the ongoing occupation against the sexist harassment of a female student at Valentini-Majorana high school was joined by more than a thousand students in Friday’s march. Turin and Bologna saw the tensest moments between demonstrators and police, and seven cops were injured in Turin.

It should be noted that as mobilizations in Italy have abated overall, the students are finding themselves relatively isolated. For the most part, even striking school workers did not participate in Friday’s demonstration in any substantial way, nor did the working class in general. Even if the day was rather isolated from workers’ organizations, it could have been stronger had the two main national student organizations participated. That could have resulted in an even stronger mass response to the Draghi government’s “Confindustria Cure” [Confindustria is the Italian employers’ association].

This situation is even more serious given how far away Italy remains from a unity of demands and mobilization by students and teachers. That could directly involve a large segment of precarious workers and graduates who are waiting to be able to participate in the national exams to qualify for teaching. These scheduled exams have been subjected to appalling delays.

We must respond to the capitalists — who make students work for free, who make education a tool of the corporations, and who unload the costs of their crisis on the working class, with government complicity — with a united political struggle against their system, which is destroying any possibility of a decent future for the vast majority!

First published in Italian on February 18 in La Voce delle Lotte.

Translation and adaptation by Scott Cooper

Facebook Twitter Share

Giacomo Turci

Giacomo is a journalist from Rome and editor of our Italian sister site La Voce delle Lotte.

Europe

Robert Habeck Wrote a Play Praising a Right-Wing Mass Murderer

Germany's Green vice chancellor strikes many as an idealist who has been struggling with the tough realities of government. Yet before he was a national politician, he wrote a play that opens a window into a dark soul.

Nathaniel Flakin

December 1, 2023

Fact Check: Did German Leftists Try to Bomb West Berlin’s Jewish Community Center in 1969?

Answer: No. The bombing was undertaken by West Germany’s domestic secret service, originally founded by Nazis.

Nathaniel Flakin

November 29, 2023
Tombstones in Germany defaced with Swasticas.

“Stop Thief!” The German State Attacks Migrants to Distract from Its Own Antisemitism

German politicians claim that antisemitism is an “imported problem.” Even a cursory look at the facts, however, shows that anti-Jewish hatred is not caused by pro-Palestinian protests. No, the source is German capitalism.

Nathaniel Flakin

November 21, 2023

Competing Rallies at Berlin’s Free University

On successive Fridays, there was a pro-Palestinian and a pro-Israeli rally at the Free University. One was dominated by international students, including many Jews and Palestinians, calling for solidarity — the other was dominated by German politicians spewing racism. Guess which was which.

Nathaniel Flakin

November 13, 2023

MOST RECENT

All That's Left, the podcast from Left Voice.

#AllThatsLeftPod: What the Historic UAW Victory Means for the Working Class

In this episode of the podcast, we discuss the historic UAW victory, its shortcomings, and the tasks for the future.

Left Voice

December 5, 2023

The New Hollywood McCarthyism Emerging Around Palestine

Over the past week, a new Hollywood McCarthyism has emerged: multiple people in Hollywood have jobs and representation over their support of Palestine. We must denounce and fight these attacks which weaken the movement and scare supporters into silence.

Sybil Davis

December 3, 2023
A UAW sign is held next to a "Free Palestine" sign

The UAW Has Called for a Ceasefire. It’s Time for All of Labor to Stand Up.

The UAW International union has joined calls for a ceasefire and is exploring how to divest from Israel. This is a step which should inspire union activists to take up the fight to bring their union into the fight against Israel's attack on Gaza and the struggle against imperialism.

Rose Lemlich

December 2, 2023

The World Kissinger Built Must Die Too

Henry Kissinger died at 100 years old. But his legacy remains in the brutal world system he built and the future generations of imperialist ghouls he inspired. They all must go.

Samuel Karlin

November 30, 2023