School, Santanchè proposes new school calendar: 'Tourism needs it'

The evaluation to change school calendars also enters the government's plans. This was said by the head of the Ministry of Tourism, Daniela Santanchè, who is talking with Giuseppe Valditara (Education) about 'working on a gradual revision of school curricula, in which to integrate trips to discover the most secret and truest Italy, that is to say the Made in Italy, and of the school calendar, drawing inspiration from the most modern and flexible European models'.

Still, however, these are ongoing evaluations. 'No concrete proposals' as the Ministry of Education let it be known, according to Ansa. Any proposals will be evaluated at the appropriate time.

In particular, the idea is to align with other countries where 'school breaks are more evenly spread throughout the year,' Santanchè explained at the Third International Tourism Forum in Milan. A change that would "represent a turning point for the destagonisation of tourist flows, favouring a better distribution of presences and thus contributing both to the wellbeing of families and to the sustainable growth of the national tourism sector".

This is not a new idea. This year, for the first time, the Emilia Romagna region has considered an alternative calendar with a teaching break between the end of the first and the beginning of the second term and the end of lessons only at the end of June. The school calendar could thus establish more holiday periods spread throughout the year and a shorter summer break, aligning with the European model

Santanchè spoke of 'a gradual alignment of the school calendar to more modern European models, to favour distributed internal flows'. In Italy there is the longest summer holiday period (about 13 weeks) and at the same time the highest number of actual school days (200). Many countries, in fact, provide breaks during the year, unlike Italy, where we stop almost exclusively for Christmas and summer.