ROME - The United Nations have published a report which shows that from September 2020 to January 2021, schools in Italy were closed for much less time than many European countries.

  Countries such as France, Belgium, Croatia, Iceland a few others didn’t close at all over that time, while the UK, Germany and Holland were among those with the most closures. This data doesn’t include the current academic year in which most schools in Europe were closed.

  This report seems like an endorsement of the work of Lucia Azzolina, the Minister for education, who has been working hard to have as much school conducted in person as possible. She has had a lot of criticism recently from the like of Matteo Renzi and Matteo Salvini, but this has brought her praise from the Senate Education Committee, who have lauded her “commitment to bring the kids back in person”.

  On Monday over eight million school children returned to school, at 50 per cent capacity. Only Sicily has delayed the return by a week to prepare better to ensure the safety of the children.

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