The Student Charter: a cycle of lessons to explain the Constitution in the Senate

Snap ‘The hour of the Constitution’. It is the initiative with which the Senate wants to offer middle and high school students one Constitution lesson a month. In presence and in streaming, Palazzo Madama is preparing a series of meetings with some constitutionalists who will illustrate the main articles of the Charter to students. “The sense of this initiative is to make children aware of the meaning, essence and scope of our Constitution – explains the Minister of Education Giuseppe Valditara – you cannot be aware citizens if you do not know the fundamental principles and the spirit of our Constitutional Charter. In a word, the centrality of the person with respect to the State: understanding that the State is a function of the person is a message of fundamental importance».
The idea is claimed by FdI senator Alberto Balboni: «I started from the law approved in 2019 which provides for the study of civic education and the Constitution, but then in our schools there is little talk about it. So the idea of ​​this initiative is to make our Charter fully known». In addition to Minister Valditara, the initiative enjoys the “support” and “enthusiasm” of the President of the Senate Ignazio La Russa: «The study and knowledge of the Constitution, of the rights it establishes as well as the duties it imposes, is a condition indispensable for building solid foundations of identity and an authentic spirit of national cohesion”.
The meetings will be held at 10.30 in the Koch room or in the Sala Capitolare of the Senate and will begin on 23 February with the lecture given by the president emeritus of the Constitutional Court, Giuliano Amato, on the fundamental principles of the Charter (from articles 1 to 12). An in-depth analysis with the former president of Palazzo Madama, Marcello Pera, dedicated to the rights and duties of citizens (from articles 13 to 28) will follow on 23 March.
On April 20, the vice president of the Constitutional Court, Nicolò Zanon, will take the chair for a lesson on ethical-social relations (from articles 29 to 47), while on May 18 it will be the former president of the Chamber, Luciano Violante, who will discuss political relations , provided for by the Constitution in articles ranging from 48 to 54. After the summer break, lessons will resume in September and will be dedicated to the second part of the Charter.