Today, 7,830,650 students go back to school. The figure is presented in the data for the 2011-2012 school year issued by the Ministry of Education. More than a million students will attend infant school, while 2,571,959 are signed up for primary school, 1,6089,029 for first-degree secondary school and 2,548,189 for second-degree secondary school.
And soon the over-sixties from thirteen Italian Regions will also return to school as they participate in the digital literacy plan for the elderly, Grandparents on the Internet.
The workshops for the project coordinators of Project PINN, Pane e Internet per Nonni e Nipoti (Bread and Internet for Grandparents and Grandchildren) will begin tomorrow in Emilia Romagna.
With the new school year, the Project Nonni SUD Internet, financed by the Fondazione con il Sud, will bring this intergenerational learning method to Basilicata, Calabria, Campania, Puglia, Sicily and Sardinia, also thanks to the collaboration of Auser and Anteas.
In line with the 2011 European Year of Volunteering and the 2012 European Year for Active Ageing and Solidarity Amongst Generations, the network of knowledge volunteers – created in Rome with the Telemouse 3.0 Competition – will step beyond the national border. The Knowledge Volunteers Project will involve six other European countries: UK, Greece, Romania, Spain, Turkey and Switzerland.
In the Abruzzi, Project A2/A4 Family Format School kicks off. The project is co-financed by the EU (EIF, Action 4/Year 2010). Schools become a central educational hub for all citizens and foreign residents to help the citizens of L'Aquila, the city that was demolished in the 2009 earthquake. Moreover, if they are not able to attend the courses, the courses reach them, thanks to the mediation roles of the new generations.
A new digital year also begins for Project Digital Bridge in the refugee camps of the Saharawi in the Wilayas of Aaiun and Ausserd and in the Schools of Fontem in Cameroon.
On March 21-23, 2012, Rome will host the sixth edition of the RomeCup, the City of Rome International Robotics Trophy. It’s a crucial appointment not only for the world of school and university, but also for all the organisations that have undersigned the Network Agreement for Educational Robotics.
Taiwan, Estonia, India, Pakistan … projects are arriving from around the world for the Global Junior Challenge, the competition that rewards the innovative use of technologies for education, solidarity and intercultural cooperation. Registration deadline for the GJC is March 15, 2012. The most innovative projects presented by Italian school will also compete for the prestigious Award of the President of the Republic (three silver medals). The final event of the competition, currently in its sixth edition, will be held in Rome from May 9-11, 2012.
And starting this week, we will be publishing our weekly newsletter documenting all the common work and effort to bring about a knowledge society for all.
Have a great school year!
