Image source: RaiNews

Teachers and intellectuals challenge cuts to philosophy in the new guidelines for high schools

Sixty professors and intellectuals criticize the ministerial revision that excludes authors such as Marx and Spinoza, calling it an attack on cultural autonomy; the protest is part of broader criticisms of the '4+2' reform of technical‑professional institutes and of private sector entry into education.

Sixty academics and intellectuals denounce as a "disaster" the exclusion of authors such as Marx, Spinoza, Fichte and Schelling from the new national guidelines for high schools, arguing that this weakens the critical education typical of the liceo.

The signatories accuse the government led by Giuseppe Valditara of attempting to impose a cultural hegemony at the end of the legislature, calling the curriculum revision a "poisoned meatball" that sacrifices critical thinking.

Loredana Perla, president of the ministerial commission, replies that the process is a "democratic consultation" and that the new framework leaves freedom to the teacher without mandatory lists in the national guidelines for high schools.

Tensions over high schools are part of a broader climate of protest against the technical‑professional reform model 4+2, criticized for reducing the programs of technical‑professional institutes to four years and for favoring an earlier entry into the workforce.

The controversy also includes security measures such as mobile metal detectors, mentioned by the minister in defending his choices, an element that contributes to the heated political and union debate.

What position do you feel closer to?

Critics of the school reform

The protest of teachers and intellectuals is necessary: it signals a corporate drift that reduces the school to an operational arm of the market, impoverishing critical and democratic education.

Supporters of the 4+2 reform

The protest of the 60 professors appears disproportionate: the curriculum revision and the 4+2 reform strengthen students' employability without eliminating critical thinking.

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