From health insurance to affordable housing: the 'welfare plan' for school staff

The latest announcement, in order of time, was made by the Minister of Education and Merit, Giuseppe Valditara, a few days ago, when he said that 'in future social housing projects, affordable housing will also be allocated to those who work in schools, in particular those who move for work reasons'.

The issue is quite serious, given that, every year, many professorships, especially in the North and in large cities, remain unfilled (and therefore assigned to substitutes) precisely because teachers' transfers are held up by high prices and the 'high cost of living'. An answer could therefore come from housing at reduced prices, a proposal moreover put forward by the national secretary of the UGL Scuola, Ornella Cuzzupi, precisely in order to start tackling the problem of housing for teachers and Ata (technical-administrative) staff, particularly those who are off-site.

"When the Minister of Infrastructure and Transport, Matteo Salvini, convened a technical roundtable at his ministry, which is responsible for the matter, to draw up the Piano Casa Italia, i.e. the guidelines for new housing policies and social housing in particular, I intervened," Valditara explained, "to ensure that the necessary attention was paid to all school staff, both teaching and technical-administrative. I note with satisfaction that in the final document, which synthesises the contributions of the various parties involved, my request has been fully accepted, so that in future social housing projects, housing at reduced prices will also be allocated to school professionals, with particular attention to those who move for work reasons, in a logic of establishing residential systems capable of satisfying specific policies and at the same time guaranteeing a high relational and housing quality of the new settlements'.

Not only housing. Minister Valditara went on to say that from January 2026 the supplementary health insurance in schools will make its debut. On the plate are 260 million euro, 65 million a year for the next four. These are 'additional state resources,' the Minister for Education and Merit, Giuseppe Valditara, tells us. 'We are talking about an important measure that will offer about 1 million teachers and school staff forms of supplementary health care; an intervention that we wanted for the benefit of workers in a sector that we consider strategic for the future of our country.

It is reported that MIM has clarified that the recipients of health insurance cover will be, in the first instance, staff employed on permanent contracts and those on fixed-term contracts of one year duration. Minister Valditara confirmed the commitment to find additional funds to extend the insurance cover to staff on temporary contracts until the end of their activities (until 30 June). Adherence to supplementary health insurance will be automatic, subject to application by the interested parties (the modalities will be communicated at a later date).