Civic education in schools: the Article 49 Foundation program presented to the Chamber, three classes awarded for the project on the Constitution

ROMA – Constitution, sustainable development and digital citizenship. These are the themes at the center of the event held today at the Chamber to describe the results of the projects onCivic education in schools, which involved over 10 thousand boys and girls throughout the national territory. At the event, organized by Article 49 Foundation – which has the aim of spreading the culture of participation in every area – among others, the Undersecretary of State for Publishing Alberto Barachini, the AGCOM Commissioner Massimiliano Capitanio, the Scientific Director of ASviS Enrico Giovannini and the president of Symbola Foundation Ermete Realacci.

The benefits of civic education. It is at the center of the education of boys and girls. Since the 2020/21 school year, with law 92 of 20 August 2019, this subject has become transversal in the first and second education cycle, with initiatives to raise awareness of responsible citizenship, for no less than 33 hours per year. According to Report ICCS 2024students who study it are more in favor of gender equality and rights for immigrants, but also more open to diversity, more predisposed towards protecting the environment and more likely to vote in elections.

The projects. Three projects presented by Article 49 Foundation Today: “Long live the Constitution, the Constitution is alive“, with the awarding of the winning schools of the competition linked to the first year “Long live the Constitution!“; the educational project “Daily basis”, dedicated to reading newspapers and combating disinformation and false news, created with the involvement of the main national and local publishing groups; the second year of the GEA EDU – Ideas for the future project, focused on the themes of the circular economy and waste cycle management.

The Constitution in schools. “Long live the Constitution, the Constitution is alive” is a three-year project aimed at primary schools that began in the 2023-24 school year. On the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the Constitution, the competition “Long live the Constitution!” saw over 3 thousand pupils from 123 classes, belonging to 82 primary schools, working to tell their idea of ​​the Constitution through drawings, stories, photo albums and videos.

111 projects were presented. And the three winning classes were awarded today in the Chamber, also in the presence of a delegation of teachers and students. The winners of the competition were the 4th A class of the San Gaetano Primary School in Rome with “Happy Birthday Constitution!”; the 5th B class of the Ordona Sud Primary School in Foggia with “The Constitution passes through here” and the 3rd A class of the Leoncini Primary School in Campo Ligure (Genoa) with the project “The articles of the Constitution”. For them, 25 computers to set up a computer room in each of the three schools.

The focus on European institutions. The other two years of this project were also presented today, which will focus on the functioning of the European institutions and on the rights of community citizenship, on the occasion of the next European elections, for 2024-2025; while it will focus on 80 years of Liberation Day and 55 years of administrative decentralization for the year 2025-26.

The “Daily” project. The project instead involved lower secondary schoolsDaily basis! Information starts at school”, with which the Foundation Art.49 wanted to focus on the importance of teaching children to inform themselves correctly, fighting misinformation and false news. The objective was to bring subscriptions to various national newspapers and over 10 regional newspapers to schools for free, together with an education kit for critical reading of newspapers. Media support is a fundamental pillar for raising public awareness and bringing young generations closer to reading the news, learning more, quality information.

Ideas for the future. GEA EDU – Ideas for the future. Finally, the second year of GEA EDU – Ideas for the future was presented, the project dedicated to spreading the culture of sustainability for secondary schools. After having addressed sustainable production and consumption in the first school year 22-23, the focus of this second year is on the circular economy, reuse, recycling and waste management.