Bambino Gesù celebrates 50 years of hospital schooling, followed by 70,000 students in 25 years

Helping children and young people not to lose touch with their studies, friends and simple everyday life even during a long hospitalisation. This is the goal that has guided the Bambino Gesù hospital school for 50 years, which today officially celebrated the important milestone during a conference held in Rome, at the Auditorium Valerio Nobili.

The Bambino Gesù school started its activities in the school year 1975-76. Since then, thanks to the continuity of teaching, thousands of children from primary school to high school have been able to face the future with greater serenity: in the last 25 years alone, some 70,000 students have been looked after.

Vivid appreciation was expressed in a message from the Minister for Education and Merit, Giuseppe Valditara, for the initiative, which 'celebrates a milestone of extraordinary human, educational and social value. Fifty years of activity of the hospital school - Valditara's words - testify to a constant commitment to guaranteeing the right to education even in the most difficult moments of young patients' lives, providing them with a fundamental garrison of growth, hope, and continuity: precisely because we are aware of the importance of this right, we have allocated 20 million euro for the hospital school". Particularly significant, for the minister, was the choice of 'giving voice to the testimony of a former patient who, thanks to personal determination and the support she received, was able to obtain a diploma while undergoing treatment. An exemplary story that makes clear the valuable role played by the teachers and all those who, with competence and dedication, contribute daily to the success of this important reality'.

"The school in the hospital," said the president of the Bambino Gesù, Tiziano Onesti, "is not just a place where one continues to study: it is an environment that offers support, normality and a living link with the outside world. Teachers and educators do not just give lessons, but build a safe and stimulating context in which children can express themselves freely and feel welcome. The school thus becomes an integral part of the care pathway, with an approach that promotes the overall well-being of the child'.

In the hospital school, teachers move between wards: lessons are mainly held at the patient's bedside or, for small groups, in communal spaces. The timetable is adaptable to treatment needs (short stays, prolonged hospitalisation, day hospital). Teachers work daily, from Monday to Saturday, identifying patients on the basis of referrals from ward managers and coordinators.