An Educational Scandal in Palermo

Ghost courses in Lo Zen

Pity the poor people of lo Zen, the Zona Estensione Nord, of Palermo, a hideous modern housing project which is rife with crime and degradation, and whose buildings are in such a poor state that several people have recommended demolition as the best solution. What has the government done to help? First of all they changed the name to San Filippo Neri, and then they decided that education and social school-based projects funded by the European Union would do the trick. But this was Sicily……

Lo Zen, from Wikipedia.

The school courses were entitled as follows: ‘Let us play together in order to have fun and to learn’. ‘Growing in respect’, ‘Learning to know yourself’, ‘Growing and learning’ and ‘I know how to….’ Just the ticket for an area rife with youth unemployment and social disintegration. They took place at the Falcone school, named, of course, after Sicily’s greatest anti-Mafia crusader.

Except they did not.

The forces of law and order have discovered that these courses were ‘ghost courses’: the teachers were pocketing the money for the courses but not actually delivering them. When a whistle-blower alerted the authorities, there was a frantic attempt to cover things up, by doing the paperwork - the attendance registers and so on - after the event. But that has fooled no one, and the Head, Deputy Head and several other teachers are now under investigation for fraud.

The great and good Mary Kenny paid my portrayal of Mafia characters a rare compliment: she said that Calogero was clearly a bad man but likeable, and so I hope he is. When you write about criminals you have to like your characters, I think. If you don’t, nothing comes into your mind as you write and you will dry up. But these teachers - there is nothing, absolutely nothing, likeable about them. How dare they use an educational project to defraud the European Union? It is the abuse of education that sticks in one’s craw. Can you imagine how the parents feel, having entrusted their children not to educators, but to criminals?

As you can imagine, the current Head of the school has some damage limitation to do. This is what he has said: ‘Despite the bad news, we continue to work with our heads held high, more determined than ever. Some of the teachers and co-workers involved in this affair are still here, others have been transferred to other schools….’ Yes, that is right: no one has been sacked. Nice to know that in Sicily you can be a corrupt and fraudulent teacher (or at least under investigation as such) and not be suspended from your work.

Educational scandals are relatively frequent in Sicily. In the last year I seem to remember writing about a school that was using fake invoices for building work that was never done, as well as teachers who were getting paid but who never showed up for work.

The last word should belong to Fabrizio Arena, a social worker in Lo Zen, trying to ameliorate its many problems. He says. ‘No one should be amazed by this affair. Other people must have been involved as well, as the accused could not have done this all on their own. The quarter is not put off; last year we all felt a very grievous blow, but we carry on working as we always have, indeed more so. What happened is only relatively bad, because the quarter is strong, and we believe in the commitment of the new Head and all those struggling to change the face of Lo Zen, and the parents continue to hope for a better future for their children.’

There are good people in Sicily as well.