It violates the rights of support teachers and, therefore, also those of pupils with disabilities: Italy, according to the European Committee of Social Rights, a body of the Council of Europe, does not take into account the rights of support teachers.”to earn a living with a job freely undertaken” Why “a high percentage is hired on precarious contracts” and 30% were unable to follow the training necessary to do this job.
The decision arises from a 2021 complaint presented by Anief, the trade union association of teachers and researchers, and finally sheds light on the uncomfortable conditions that disabled girls and boys are too often forced to experience, between regulatory gaps, few hours at school and ghost teachers (these teachers are often replaced every year, depriving 59% of students of educational continuity).
In the complaint, Anief argued that Italian schools trample on people’s right to work and the right of people with disabilities to independence, social integration and participation in community life, due to the precarious condition of support teachers (over 56% are recruited with contracts that expire every 30 June). And not only that: every year, many families have to appeal to the courts to assign a support teacher or to have more teaching hours.
The decision of the European Committee of Social Rights (ECSR)
In its complaint, ANIEF argued that the system established in Italy to provide educational assistance to pupils with disabilities violates Articles 1, paragraphs 1 and 2 (right to work) and 15 (right of persons with disabilities to independence, social integration and participation in community life), as well as Article E (non-discrimination) of the revised European Social Charter, due to:
In short, in its decision on the merits, the CEDS unanimously concluded that Italy does not fully guarantee the right to work, since a high number of support teachers work in precarious conditions and a significant proportion of these do not have adequate training. This situation constitutes a violation of the right to work linked to both contractual instability and the lack of professional qualifications among support teachers.
The Committee also found a violation of Article 15 of the European Social Charter, since the access of students with disabilities to truly inclusive education is compromised by the persistent job insecurity of many support teachers and by the fact that approximately one teacher in three is not specialized in inclusive education. However, no violation of the same article was found in relation to the use of legal actions by families to protect their children’s right to education.
Article 15 of the European Social Charter provides that States adopt all necessary measures to ensure orientation, education and vocational training for people with disabilities within the ordinary system whenever possible or, alternatively, through specialized public or private structures.
This decision is not just a legal stance: it is a mirror that forces us to look at an uncomfortable reality. Behind the numbers, percentages and articles of law there are disabled boys and girls who change teachers every year, families forced to fight for a right that should be guaranteed and teachers who work without stability or recognition. School inclusion cannot remain a slogan or a promise on paper: it needs continuity, skills and respect, for those who teach and for those who learn.
