Minister Valditara rejects Maria Falcone: “Date for principal competition cannot be changed”

Last Updated: May 18, 2024

Il ministro Valditara dice di no a Maria Falcone: «La data del concorso per i presidi non si può spostare»

Maria Falcone remembers to “some blind bureaucrats of the ministry” that the date of May 23rd “is sacred for the civil memory of Italy”. The sister of the magistrate killed 32 years ago, along with his wife Francesca Morvillo and three police officers, does not forgive the choice of the Ministry of Education to schedule the selective tests for the principal competition for next Thursday, coinciding with the celebrations of the Capaci massacre.

And she finds the explanations of the Ministry outrageous, which in a note issued in the morning highlights the small number of participants in the competition in Sicily, “only 2,470 teachers out of a total of 24,944”, at a time between 2:30 and 3:45 PM “allowing participants and surveillance personnel to also participate in the morning or evening events”.

For the president of the Falcone Foundation, it is an unforgivable carelessness: everyone must have the freedom to follow their heart and emotions on that day. While thanking those who reacted to this “act of distraction, first of all the president of the parliamentary antimafia commission Chiara Colosimo,” she hopes that the ministry “immediately reverses its decision”, canceling the “cultural gap” created by the ministry with schools and civil society.

The issue has been the subject of controversy for days, also raised by Giusto Catania, principal of the Giuliana Saladino institute in the Cep district of Palermo, who considers it “a decision to be challenged”. The CGIL in Palermo also emphasized that “at one time the ministry organized the ships of legality. It seems that there is no longer the same attention, that the desire is being lost.”

In the evening, Education Minister Giuseppe Valditara intervenes clarifying: “The ministry is committed to honoring Giovanni Falcone, Francesca Morvillo, and the escort” but “every hypothesis of postponing the national competition test for school principals has been considered impractical.” The minister reiterates “the commitment to honor the dead of Capaci, an example for present and future generations” and, at the same time, expresses “deep regret” for the controversy.

Rome, therefore, states that the competition does not interfere with the celebrations, and the ministry clarifies that the choice of the date “responds to precise technical and organizational needs: the days of May that are most occupied by schools for the administration of the Invalsi tests had to be avoided.” And it ensures that schools throughout the country will be involved: “Thanks to the strong activation of the Sicilian regional school management, the presence of around 5,000 students and teachers for the planned initiatives is expected. Schools, together with the Network for anti-mafia culture, will also be present at the Palace of Justice in Palermo.”

In addition to the official celebrations scheduled for May 23rd, the “popular procession” wanted by associations, student committees, trade unions, and other social realities is added, after last year – as the organizers remember – a police cordon prevented students, workers, and unionists from reaching the Falcone Tree. The procession will start at 3 PM from the Faculty of Law.