Guest Post by Dr. Ann Wand of @coffee_and_cocktails_podcast
The border region of South Tyrol, Italy situated between the Austrian and Italian border, is an area of Western Europe that is largely undiscussed in the English-speaking world. Originally a part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire before its eventual fall after the First World War, this multilingual region is the home to three official language groups: the German-, Italian-, and Ladin-speaking communities.
While on the surface this picturesque region brings with it the hallmark visions of Alpine villages, fresh air, and excellent food, once you scrape away at the façade and start to understand the political environment, questions arise over South Tyrol’s legal segregated schooling system. Initially established after 1972 as part of the Second Autonomy Statute, this ‘negative’ peace negotiation brought with it the legal establishment of a three-part education system to protect the rights of the German- (and Ladin-) speaking minorities due to historical Fascist occupation in the region.
As the German-speaking community for almost two decades had to protect their language and culture through underground hidden, catacomb schools, this segregated alternative meant that each language group could have the right to maintain their culture and identity. However, over time the communities have started to merge into a (dare I say) unified, multilingual South Tyrolean identity, and with that means parental attempts to encourage their children to ‘mix’ with other language groups. But when entrance doors to ‘mixed’ schools have separate entrances for each language group, along with segregated lunch times, and segregated playgrounds, the international community should be questioning the United Nations, Austrian and Italian governments over why they still support (and encourage) South Tyrol’s segregated school system despite its negative consequences in the 21st century.
To learn more, check out the Coffee & Cocktails® Podcast episode on Italy’s segregated schools: https://soundcloud.com/coffeeandcocktails/ep-30-controversies-contraband-series-italys-segregated-schools
*photo by Luca Lorenzi, 2009