Gianni Cipriano Photography | Archive

  • Archive
    • All Galleries
    • Search
    • Cart
    • Lightbox
    • Client Area
  • About
  • Contact
  • PORTFOLIO
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
x

Search Results

Refine Search
Match all words
Match any word
Prints
Personal Use
Royalty-Free
Rights-Managed
(leave unchecked to
search all images)
Next
193 images found
twitterlinkedinfacebook

Loading ()...

  • NAPLES, ITALY - 14 APRIL 2021: (R-L) Francesca Nardi (16) and Rosa Trotto (17), two soon-to-be school dropouts, pose for a portrait in Ponticelli, a district in the outskirts of Naples, Italy, on April 14th 2021. Francesca Nardi lamented her online classes. She is failing, likely to get left back, and would likely drop out. “It’s better if I just work,” Ms. Nardi, 15, said. “And not waste another year.”<br />
<br />
Even before the coronavirus pandemic, Italy had among the highest dropout rates in the European Union. But over the last year it has kept its schools at least in part closed about three times longer than France, and more than Spain or Germany and just about all other member states, severing a lifeline for some of the most challenged children and fueling fears of an education crisis.<br />
<br />
Experts argued that by at least partially closing its schools for 35 weeks, Italy, already lagging behind the rest of Europe in key educational indicators and hoping for a strong post-pandemic recovery, had threatened its long term prospects. The country with Europe’s oldest population has risked leaving behind its youth, which is its greatest and rarest resource.<br />
<br />
While it is too early for reliable statistics, teachers, principals, advocates and social workers say they have seen a sharp increase in the number of students falling out of the system. Even those who stayed in are clearly falling behind.<br />
<br />
The problem is especially acute around the southern city of Naples. Schools here have remained closed longer than the rest of the country, in part because the president of the wider Campania region, Vincenzo De Luca, insisted they were a potential source of infection. At one point, he mocked the notion that children in his region were “crying to go to school.” Between September and January, high school students in Naples only physically went to school for 27 days, according to the humanitarian organization Save the Children, a national low. In Naples, the dropout rate is
    CIPG_20210414_NYT_Italy-Dropouts_A73...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 14 APRIL 2021: A third grade student is seen here at the "Melissa Bassi" middle school in Ponticelli, a district in the outskirts of  Naples, Italy, on April 14th 2021. Over the past months, the school has organised workshop to get the local kids, who were most likely to not attend the online classes, come to school and build solid personal relationships with the teachers. <br />
<br />
Even before the coronavirus pandemic, Italy had among the highest dropout rates in the European Union. But over the last year it has kept its schools at least in part closed about three times longer than France, and more than Spain or Germany and just about all other member states, severing a lifeline for some of the most challenged children and fueling fears of an education crisis.<br />
<br />
Experts argued that by at least partially closing its schools for 35 weeks, Italy, already lagging behind the rest of Europe in key educational indicators and hoping for a strong post-pandemic recovery, had threatened its long term prospects. The country with Europe’s oldest population has risked leaving behind its youth, which is its greatest and rarest resource.<br />
<br />
While it is too early for reliable statistics, teachers, principals, advocates and social workers say they have seen a sharp increase in the number of students falling out of the system. Even those who stayed in are clearly falling behind.<br />
<br />
The problem is especially acute around the southern city of Naples. Schools here have remained closed longer than the rest of the country, in part because the president of the wider Campania region, Vincenzo De Luca, insisted they were a potential source of infection. At one point, he mocked the notion that children in his region were “crying to go to school.” Between September and January, high school students in Naples only physically went to school for 27 days, according to the humanitarian organization Save the Children, a national low. In Naples, the dropout rate is about 20 percent, twice
    CIPG_20210414_NYT_Italy-Dropouts_A73...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 15 APRIL 2021: A view of the "Sails" housing project in Scampia, a district in the outskirts of Naples known across Italy as a tough place plagued for years by the Camorra mafia, is seen here in Naples, Italy, on April 15th 2021. <br />
<br />
Even before the coronavirus pandemic, Italy had among the highest dropout rates in the European Union. But over the last year it has kept its schools at least in part closed about three times longer than France, and more than Spain or Germany and just about all other member states, severing a lifeline for some of the most challenged children and fueling fears of an education crisis.<br />
<br />
Experts argued that by at least partially closing its schools for 35 weeks, Italy, already lagging behind the rest of Europe in key educational indicators and hoping for a strong post-pandemic recovery, had threatened its long term prospects. The country with Europe’s oldest population has risked leaving behind its youth, which is its greatest and rarest resource.<br />
<br />
While it is too early for reliable statistics, teachers, principals, advocates and social workers say they have seen a sharp increase in the number of students falling out of the system. Even those who stayed in are clearly falling behind.<br />
<br />
The problem is especially acute around the southern city of Naples. Schools here have remained closed longer than the rest of the country, in part because the president of the wider Campania region, Vincenzo De Luca, insisted they were a potential source of infection. At one point, he mocked the notion that children in his region were “crying to go to school.” Between September and January, high school students in Naples only physically went to school for 27 days, according to the humanitarian organization Save the Children, a national low. In Naples, the dropout rate is about 20 percent, twice the European average and in the city’s outskirts it is even higher. Teachers there have struggled to keep students interested in school, and wo
    CIPG_20210415_NYT_Italy-Dropouts_M2P...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 15 APRIL 2021: A view of the "Sails" housing project in Scampia, a district in the outskirts of Naples known across Italy as a tough place plagued for years by the Camorra mafia, is seen here in Naples, Italy, on April 15th 2021. <br />
<br />
Even before the coronavirus pandemic, Italy had among the highest dropout rates in the European Union. But over the last year it has kept its schools at least in part closed about three times longer than France, and more than Spain or Germany and just about all other member states, severing a lifeline for some of the most challenged children and fueling fears of an education crisis.<br />
<br />
Experts argued that by at least partially closing its schools for 35 weeks, Italy, already lagging behind the rest of Europe in key educational indicators and hoping for a strong post-pandemic recovery, had threatened its long term prospects. The country with Europe’s oldest population has risked leaving behind its youth, which is its greatest and rarest resource.<br />
<br />
While it is too early for reliable statistics, teachers, principals, advocates and social workers say they have seen a sharp increase in the number of students falling out of the system. Even those who stayed in are clearly falling behind.<br />
<br />
The problem is especially acute around the southern city of Naples. Schools here have remained closed longer than the rest of the country, in part because the president of the wider Campania region, Vincenzo De Luca, insisted they were a potential source of infection. At one point, he mocked the notion that children in his region were “crying to go to school.” Between September and January, high school students in Naples only physically went to school for 27 days, according to the humanitarian organization Save the Children, a national low. In Naples, the dropout rate is about 20 percent, twice the European average and in the city’s outskirts it is even higher. Teachers there have struggled to keep students interested in school, and wo
    CIPG_20210415_NYT_Italy-Dropouts_M2P...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 14 APRIL 2021: Matteo Cantalino (16), who risks dropping out of  school, poses for a portrait in Scampia, a district in the outskirts of Naples, Italy, on April 14th 2021. Matteo said he was failing and got left back with online classes. He'd like to go back to school when they re-open, but he's not sure he will be able to. He'd like to finish his studies and go to college.<br />
<br />
Even before the coronavirus pandemic, Italy had among the highest dropout rates in the European Union. But over the last year it has kept its schools at least in part closed about three times longer than France, and more than Spain or Germany and just about all other member states, severing a lifeline for some of the most challenged children and fueling fears of an education crisis.<br />
<br />
Experts argued that by at least partially closing its schools for 35 weeks, Italy, already lagging behind the rest of Europe in key educational indicators and hoping for a strong post-pandemic recovery, had threatened its long term prospects. The country with Europe’s oldest population has risked leaving behind its youth, which is its greatest and rarest resource.<br />
<br />
While it is too early for reliable statistics, teachers, principals, advocates and social workers say they have seen a sharp increase in the number of students falling out of the system. Even those who stayed in are clearly falling behind.<br />
<br />
The problem is especially acute around the southern city of Naples. Schools here have remained closed longer than the rest of the country, in part because the president of the wider Campania region, Vincenzo De Luca, insisted they were a potential source of infection. At one point, he mocked the notion that children in his region were “crying to go to school.” Between September and January, high school students in Naples only physically went to school for 27 days, according to the humanitarian organization Save the Children, a national low. In Naples, the dropout rate is about 20 percent, twice
    CIPG_20210414_NYT_Italy-Dropouts_A73...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 14 APRIL 2021: (R-L) Francesca Nardi (16) and Rosa Trotto (17), two soon-to-be school dropouts, are seen here in Ponticelli, a district in the outskirts of Naples, Italy, on April 14th 2021. Francesca Nardi lamented her online classes. She is failing, likely to get left back, and would likely drop out. “It’s better if I just work,” Ms. Nardi, 15, said. “And not waste another year.”<br />
<br />
Even before the coronavirus pandemic, Italy had among the highest dropout rates in the European Union. But over the last year it has kept its schools at least in part closed about three times longer than France, and more than Spain or Germany and just about all other member states, severing a lifeline for some of the most challenged children and fueling fears of an education crisis.<br />
<br />
Experts argued that by at least partially closing its schools for 35 weeks, Italy, already lagging behind the rest of Europe in key educational indicators and hoping for a strong post-pandemic recovery, had threatened its long term prospects. The country with Europe’s oldest population has risked leaving behind its youth, which is its greatest and rarest resource.<br />
<br />
While it is too early for reliable statistics, teachers, principals, advocates and social workers say they have seen a sharp increase in the number of students falling out of the system. Even those who stayed in are clearly falling behind.<br />
<br />
The problem is especially acute around the southern city of Naples. Schools here have remained closed longer than the rest of the country, in part because the president of the wider Campania region, Vincenzo De Luca, insisted they were a potential source of infection. At one point, he mocked the notion that children in his region were “crying to go to school.” Between September and January, high school students in Naples only physically went to school for 27 days, according to the humanitarian organization Save the Children, a national low. In Naples, the dropout rate is about
    CIPG_20210414_NYT_Italy-Dropouts_A73...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 14 APRIL 2021: A housing project with a mural by street artist Jorit is seen here in Ponticelli, a district in the outskirts of Naples, Italy, on April 14th 2021. <br />
<br />
Even before the coronavirus pandemic, Italy had among the highest dropout rates in the European Union. But over the last year it has kept its schools at least in part closed about three times longer than France, and more than Spain or Germany and just about all other member states, severing a lifeline for some of the most challenged children and fueling fears of an education crisis.<br />
<br />
Experts argued that by at least partially closing its schools for 35 weeks, Italy, already lagging behind the rest of Europe in key educational indicators and hoping for a strong post-pandemic recovery, had threatened its long term prospects. The country with Europe’s oldest population has risked leaving behind its youth, which is its greatest and rarest resource.<br />
<br />
While it is too early for reliable statistics, teachers, principals, advocates and social workers say they have seen a sharp increase in the number of students falling out of the system. Even those who stayed in are clearly falling behind.<br />
<br />
The problem is especially acute around the southern city of Naples. Schools here have remained closed longer than the rest of the country, in part because the president of the wider Campania region, Vincenzo De Luca, insisted they were a potential source of infection. At one point, he mocked the notion that children in his region were “crying to go to school.” Between September and January, high school students in Naples only physically went to school for 27 days, according to the humanitarian organization Save the Children, a national low. In Naples, the dropout rate is about 20 percent, twice the European average and in the city’s outskirts it is even higher. Teachers there have struggled to keep students interested in school, and worry that months of closed classrooms would shut students out for go
    CIPG_20210414_NYT_Italy-Dropouts_A73...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 15 APRIL 2021: A view of the "Sails" housing project in Scampia, a district in the outskirts of Naples known across Italy as a tough place plagued for years by the Camorra mafia, is seen here in Naples, Italy, on April 15th 2021. <br />
<br />
Even before the coronavirus pandemic, Italy had among the highest dropout rates in the European Union. But over the last year it has kept its schools at least in part closed about three times longer than France, and more than Spain or Germany and just about all other member states, severing a lifeline for some of the most challenged children and fueling fears of an education crisis.<br />
<br />
Experts argued that by at least partially closing its schools for 35 weeks, Italy, already lagging behind the rest of Europe in key educational indicators and hoping for a strong post-pandemic recovery, had threatened its long term prospects. The country with Europe’s oldest population has risked leaving behind its youth, which is its greatest and rarest resource.<br />
<br />
While it is too early for reliable statistics, teachers, principals, advocates and social workers say they have seen a sharp increase in the number of students falling out of the system. Even those who stayed in are clearly falling behind.<br />
<br />
The problem is especially acute around the southern city of Naples. Schools here have remained closed longer than the rest of the country, in part because the president of the wider Campania region, Vincenzo De Luca, insisted they were a potential source of infection. At one point, he mocked the notion that children in his region were “crying to go to school.” Between September and January, high school students in Naples only physically went to school for 27 days, according to the humanitarian organization Save the Children, a national low. In Naples, the dropout rate is about 20 percent, twice the European average and in the city’s outskirts it is even higher. Teachers there have struggled to keep students interested in school, and wo
    CIPG_20210415_NYT_Italy-Dropouts_M2P...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 15 APRIL 2021: Salvatore Sivero (41) and his daughter Concetta are seen here in the kitchen while his other daughter Antonia attends an online class in Ponticelli, a district in the outskirts of Naples, Italy, on April 15th 2021. <br />
<br />
Even before the coronavirus pandemic, Italy had among the highest dropout rates in the European Union. But over the last year it has kept its schools at least in part closed about three times longer than France, and more than Spain or Germany and just about all other member states, severing a lifeline for some of the most challenged children and fueling fears of an education crisis.<br />
<br />
Experts argued that by at least partially closing its schools for 35 weeks, Italy, already lagging behind the rest of Europe in key educational indicators and hoping for a strong post-pandemic recovery, had threatened its long term prospects. The country with Europe’s oldest population has risked leaving behind its youth, which is its greatest and rarest resource.<br />
<br />
While it is too early for reliable statistics, teachers, principals, advocates and social workers say they have seen a sharp increase in the number of students falling out of the system. Even those who stayed in are clearly falling behind.<br />
<br />
The problem is especially acute around the southern city of Naples. Schools here have remained closed longer than the rest of the country, in part because the president of the wider Campania region, Vincenzo De Luca, insisted they were a potential source of infection. At one point, he mocked the notion that children in his region were “crying to go to school.” Between September and January, high school students in Naples only physically went to school for 27 days, according to the humanitarian organization Save the Children, a national low. In Naples, the dropout rate is about 20 percent, twice the European average and in the city’s outskirts it is even higher. Teachers there have struggled to keep students interested in school, and wo
    CIPG_20210415_NYT_Italy-Dropouts_A73...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 14 APRIL 2021: Matteo Cantalino (16), who risks dropping out of  school, poses for a portrait in Scampia, a district in the outskirts of Naples, Italy, on April 14th 2021. Matteo said he was failing and got left back with online classes. He'd like to go back to school when they re-open, but he's not sure he will be able to. He'd like to finish his studies and go to college.<br />
<br />
Even before the coronavirus pandemic, Italy had among the highest dropout rates in the European Union. But over the last year it has kept its schools at least in part closed about three times longer than France, and more than Spain or Germany and just about all other member states, severing a lifeline for some of the most challenged children and fueling fears of an education crisis.<br />
<br />
Experts argued that by at least partially closing its schools for 35 weeks, Italy, already lagging behind the rest of Europe in key educational indicators and hoping for a strong post-pandemic recovery, had threatened its long term prospects. The country with Europe’s oldest population has risked leaving behind its youth, which is its greatest and rarest resource.<br />
<br />
While it is too early for reliable statistics, teachers, principals, advocates and social workers say they have seen a sharp increase in the number of students falling out of the system. Even those who stayed in are clearly falling behind.<br />
<br />
The problem is especially acute around the southern city of Naples. Schools here have remained closed longer than the rest of the country, in part because the president of the wider Campania region, Vincenzo De Luca, insisted they were a potential source of infection. At one point, he mocked the notion that children in his region were “crying to go to school.” Between September and January, high school students in Naples only physically went to school for 27 days, according to the humanitarian organization Save the Children, a national low. In Naples, the dropout rate is about 20 percent, twice
    CIPG_20210414_NYT_Italy-Dropouts_A73...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 14 APRIL 2021: (R-L) Francesca Nardi (16) and Rosa Trotto (17), two soon-to-be school dropouts, pose for a portrait in Ponticelli, a district in the outskirts of Naples, Italy, on April 14th 2021. Francesca Nardi lamented her online classes. She is failing, likely to get left back, and would likely drop out. “It’s better if I just work,” Ms. Nardi, 15, said. “And not waste another year.”<br />
<br />
Even before the coronavirus pandemic, Italy had among the highest dropout rates in the European Union. But over the last year it has kept its schools at least in part closed about three times longer than France, and more than Spain or Germany and just about all other member states, severing a lifeline for some of the most challenged children and fueling fears of an education crisis.<br />
<br />
Experts argued that by at least partially closing its schools for 35 weeks, Italy, already lagging behind the rest of Europe in key educational indicators and hoping for a strong post-pandemic recovery, had threatened its long term prospects. The country with Europe’s oldest population has risked leaving behind its youth, which is its greatest and rarest resource.<br />
<br />
While it is too early for reliable statistics, teachers, principals, advocates and social workers say they have seen a sharp increase in the number of students falling out of the system. Even those who stayed in are clearly falling behind.<br />
<br />
The problem is especially acute around the southern city of Naples. Schools here have remained closed longer than the rest of the country, in part because the president of the wider Campania region, Vincenzo De Luca, insisted they were a potential source of infection. At one point, he mocked the notion that children in his region were “crying to go to school.” Between September and January, high school students in Naples only physically went to school for 27 days, according to the humanitarian organization Save the Children, a national low. In Naples, the dropout rate is
    CIPG_20210414_NYT_Italy-Dropouts_A73...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 14 APRIL 2021: (R-L) Francesca Nardi (16) and Rosa Trotto (17), two soon-to-be school dropouts, pose for a portrait in Ponticelli, a district in the outskirts of Naples, Italy, on April 14th 2021. Francesca Nardi lamented her online classes. She is failing, likely to get left back, and would likely drop out. “It’s better if I just work,” Ms. Nardi, 15, said. “And not waste another year.”<br />
<br />
Even before the coronavirus pandemic, Italy had among the highest dropout rates in the European Union. But over the last year it has kept its schools at least in part closed about three times longer than France, and more than Spain or Germany and just about all other member states, severing a lifeline for some of the most challenged children and fueling fears of an education crisis.<br />
<br />
Experts argued that by at least partially closing its schools for 35 weeks, Italy, already lagging behind the rest of Europe in key educational indicators and hoping for a strong post-pandemic recovery, had threatened its long term prospects. The country with Europe’s oldest population has risked leaving behind its youth, which is its greatest and rarest resource.<br />
<br />
While it is too early for reliable statistics, teachers, principals, advocates and social workers say they have seen a sharp increase in the number of students falling out of the system. Even those who stayed in are clearly falling behind.<br />
<br />
The problem is especially acute around the southern city of Naples. Schools here have remained closed longer than the rest of the country, in part because the president of the wider Campania region, Vincenzo De Luca, insisted they were a potential source of infection. At one point, he mocked the notion that children in his region were “crying to go to school.” Between September and January, high school students in Naples only physically went to school for 27 days, according to the humanitarian organization Save the Children, a national low. In Naples, the dropout rate is
    CIPG_20210414_NYT_Italy-Dropouts_A73...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 14 APRIL 2021: A mother and her two daughters walk in Ponticelli. a district in the outskirts of Naples, Italy, on April 14th 2021. <br />
<br />
Even before the coronavirus pandemic, Italy had among the highest dropout rates in the European Union. But over the last year it has kept its schools at least in part closed about three times longer than France, and more than Spain or Germany and just about all other member states, severing a lifeline for some of the most challenged children and fueling fears of an education crisis.<br />
<br />
Experts argued that by at least partially closing its schools for 35 weeks, Italy, already lagging behind the rest of Europe in key educational indicators and hoping for a strong post-pandemic recovery, had threatened its long term prospects. The country with Europe’s oldest population has risked leaving behind its youth, which is its greatest and rarest resource.<br />
<br />
While it is too early for reliable statistics, teachers, principals, advocates and social workers say they have seen a sharp increase in the number of students falling out of the system. Even those who stayed in are clearly falling behind.<br />
<br />
The problem is especially acute around the southern city of Naples. Schools here have remained closed longer than the rest of the country, in part because the president of the wider Campania region, Vincenzo De Luca, insisted they were a potential source of infection. At one point, he mocked the notion that children in his region were “crying to go to school.” Between September and January, high school students in Naples only physically went to school for 27 days, according to the humanitarian organization Save the Children, a national low. In Naples, the dropout rate is about 20 percent, twice the European average and in the city’s outskirts it is even higher. Teachers there have struggled to keep students interested in school, and worry that months of closed classrooms would shut students out for good.
    CIPG_20210414_NYT_Italy-Dropouts_A73...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 14 APRIL 2021: School chairs are piled up here at the "Melissa Bassi" middle school in Ponticelli, a district in the outskirts of  Naples, Italy, on April 14th 2021. <br />
<br />
Even before the coronavirus pandemic, Italy had among the highest dropout rates in the European Union. But over the last year it has kept its schools at least in part closed about three times longer than France, and more than Spain or Germany and just about all other member states, severing a lifeline for some of the most challenged children and fueling fears of an education crisis.<br />
<br />
Experts argued that by at least partially closing its schools for 35 weeks, Italy, already lagging behind the rest of Europe in key educational indicators and hoping for a strong post-pandemic recovery, had threatened its long term prospects. The country with Europe’s oldest population has risked leaving behind its youth, which is its greatest and rarest resource.<br />
<br />
While it is too early for reliable statistics, teachers, principals, advocates and social workers say they have seen a sharp increase in the number of students falling out of the system. Even those who stayed in are clearly falling behind.<br />
<br />
The problem is especially acute around the southern city of Naples. Schools here have remained closed longer than the rest of the country, in part because the president of the wider Campania region, Vincenzo De Luca, insisted they were a potential source of infection. At one point, he mocked the notion that children in his region were “crying to go to school.” Between September and January, high school students in Naples only physically went to school for 27 days, according to the humanitarian organization Save the Children, a national low. In Naples, the dropout rate is about 20 percent, twice the European average and in the city’s outskirts it is even higher. Teachers there have struggled to keep students interested in school, and worry that months of closed classrooms would shut students out for
    CIPG_20210414_NYT_Italy-Dropouts_A73...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 14 APRIL 2021: A student walks in the hallway of the "Melissa Bassi" middle school in Ponticelli, a district in the outskirts of  Naples, Italy, on April 14th 2021. Over the past months, the school has organised workshop to get the local kids, who were most likely to not attend the online classes, come to school and build solid personal relationships with the teachers. <br />
<br />
Even before the coronavirus pandemic, Italy had among the highest dropout rates in the European Union. But over the last year it has kept its schools at least in part closed about three times longer than France, and more than Spain or Germany and just about all other member states, severing a lifeline for some of the most challenged children and fueling fears of an education crisis.<br />
<br />
Experts argued that by at least partially closing its schools for 35 weeks, Italy, already lagging behind the rest of Europe in key educational indicators and hoping for a strong post-pandemic recovery, had threatened its long term prospects. The country with Europe’s oldest population has risked leaving behind its youth, which is its greatest and rarest resource.<br />
<br />
While it is too early for reliable statistics, teachers, principals, advocates and social workers say they have seen a sharp increase in the number of students falling out of the system. Even those who stayed in are clearly falling behind.<br />
<br />
The problem is especially acute around the southern city of Naples. Schools here have remained closed longer than the rest of the country, in part because the president of the wider Campania region, Vincenzo De Luca, insisted they were a potential source of infection. At one point, he mocked the notion that children in his region were “crying to go to school.” Between September and January, high school students in Naples only physically went to school for 27 days, according to the humanitarian organization Save the Children, a national low. In Naples, the dropout rate is about 20 percent, twice the
    CIPG_20210414_NYT_Italy-Dropouts_A73...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 14 APRIL 2021: Third grade students are seen here at the "Melissa Bassi" middle school in Ponticelli, a district in the outskirts of  Naples, Italy, on April 14th 2021. Over the past months, the school has organised workshop to get the local kids, who were most likely to not attend the online classes, come to school and build solid personal relationships with the teachers. <br />
<br />
Even before the coronavirus pandemic, Italy had among the highest dropout rates in the European Union. But over the last year it has kept its schools at least in part closed about three times longer than France, and more than Spain or Germany and just about all other member states, severing a lifeline for some of the most challenged children and fueling fears of an education crisis.<br />
<br />
Experts argued that by at least partially closing its schools for 35 weeks, Italy, already lagging behind the rest of Europe in key educational indicators and hoping for a strong post-pandemic recovery, had threatened its long term prospects. The country with Europe’s oldest population has risked leaving behind its youth, which is its greatest and rarest resource.<br />
<br />
While it is too early for reliable statistics, teachers, principals, advocates and social workers say they have seen a sharp increase in the number of students falling out of the system. Even those who stayed in are clearly falling behind.<br />
<br />
The problem is especially acute around the southern city of Naples. Schools here have remained closed longer than the rest of the country, in part because the president of the wider Campania region, Vincenzo De Luca, insisted they were a potential source of infection. At one point, he mocked the notion that children in his region were “crying to go to school.” Between September and January, high school students in Naples only physically went to school for 27 days, according to the humanitarian organization Save the Children, a national low. In Naples, the dropout rate is about 20 percent, twice
    CIPG_20210414_NYT_Italy-Dropouts_A73...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 14 APRIL 2021: Marika Iorio (15), posese for a portrait in Scampia, a district in the outskirts of Naples, Italy, on April 14th 2021.  She intends to stay in school, graduate, and become a psychologist. But she was struggling to follow school online and failing her classes. “I am scared I might not make it,” she said.<br />
<br />
Even before the coronavirus pandemic, Italy had among the highest dropout rates in the European Union. But over the last year it has kept its schools at least in part closed about three times longer than France, and more than Spain or Germany and just about all other member states, severing a lifeline for some of the most challenged children and fueling fears of an education crisis.<br />
<br />
Experts argued that by at least partially closing its schools for 35 weeks, Italy, already lagging behind the rest of Europe in key educational indicators and hoping for a strong post-pandemic recovery, had threatened its long term prospects. The country with Europe’s oldest population has risked leaving behind its youth, which is its greatest and rarest resource.<br />
<br />
While it is too early for reliable statistics, teachers, principals, advocates and social workers say they have seen a sharp increase in the number of students falling out of the system. Even those who stayed in are clearly falling behind.<br />
<br />
The problem is especially acute around the southern city of Naples. Schools here have remained closed longer than the rest of the country, in part because the president of the wider Campania region, Vincenzo De Luca, insisted they were a potential source of infection. At one point, he mocked the notion that children in his region were “crying to go to school.” Between September and January, high school students in Naples only physically went to school for 27 days, according to the humanitarian organization Save the Children, a national low. In Naples, the dropout rate is about 20 percent, twice the European average and in the city’s outskirts i
    CIPG_20210414_NYT_Italy-Dropouts_A73...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 15 APRIL 2021: A view of the "Sails" housing project in Scampia, a district in the outskirts of Naples known across Italy as a tough place plagued for years by the Camorra mafia, is seen here in Naples, Italy, on April 15th 2021. <br />
<br />
Even before the coronavirus pandemic, Italy had among the highest dropout rates in the European Union. But over the last year it has kept its schools at least in part closed about three times longer than France, and more than Spain or Germany and just about all other member states, severing a lifeline for some of the most challenged children and fueling fears of an education crisis.<br />
<br />
Experts argued that by at least partially closing its schools for 35 weeks, Italy, already lagging behind the rest of Europe in key educational indicators and hoping for a strong post-pandemic recovery, had threatened its long term prospects. The country with Europe’s oldest population has risked leaving behind its youth, which is its greatest and rarest resource.<br />
<br />
While it is too early for reliable statistics, teachers, principals, advocates and social workers say they have seen a sharp increase in the number of students falling out of the system. Even those who stayed in are clearly falling behind.<br />
<br />
The problem is especially acute around the southern city of Naples. Schools here have remained closed longer than the rest of the country, in part because the president of the wider Campania region, Vincenzo De Luca, insisted they were a potential source of infection. At one point, he mocked the notion that children in his region were “crying to go to school.” Between September and January, high school students in Naples only physically went to school for 27 days, according to the humanitarian organization Save the Children, a national low. In Naples, the dropout rate is about 20 percent, twice the European average and in the city’s outskirts it is even higher. Teachers there have struggled to keep students interested in school, and wo
    CIPG_20210415_NYT_Italy-Dropouts_M2P...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 15 APRIL 2021: Francesco Uccello (48) is seen here teaching an Italian online class on the smartphone of his third grade student Antonia Sivero (13), in her room in Ponticelli, a district in the outskirts of Naples, Italy, on April 15th 2021. <br />
<br />
Even before the coronavirus pandemic, Italy had among the highest dropout rates in the European Union. But over the last year it has kept its schools at least in part closed about three times longer than France, and more than Spain or Germany and just about all other member states, severing a lifeline for some of the most challenged children and fueling fears of an education crisis.<br />
<br />
Experts argued that by at least partially closing its schools for 35 weeks, Italy, already lagging behind the rest of Europe in key educational indicators and hoping for a strong post-pandemic recovery, had threatened its long term prospects. The country with Europe’s oldest population has risked leaving behind its youth, which is its greatest and rarest resource.<br />
<br />
While it is too early for reliable statistics, teachers, principals, advocates and social workers say they have seen a sharp increase in the number of students falling out of the system. Even those who stayed in are clearly falling behind.<br />
<br />
The problem is especially acute around the southern city of Naples. Schools here have remained closed longer than the rest of the country, in part because the president of the wider Campania region, Vincenzo De Luca, insisted they were a potential source of infection. At one point, he mocked the notion that children in his region were “crying to go to school.” Between September and January, high school students in Naples only physically went to school for 27 days, according to the humanitarian organization Save the Children, a national low. In Naples, the dropout rate is about 20 percent, twice the European average and in the city’s outskirts it is even higher. Teachers there have struggled to keep students interested in s
    CIPG_20210415_NYT_Italy-Dropouts_A73...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 15 APRIL 2021: Antonia Sivero (13), a third grade student, attends an online Italian class held by her teacher Francesco Uccello in Ponticelli, a district in the outskirts of Naples, Italy, on April 15th 2021. <br />
<br />
Even before the coronavirus pandemic, Italy had among the highest dropout rates in the European Union. But over the last year it has kept its schools at least in part closed about three times longer than France, and more than Spain or Germany and just about all other member states, severing a lifeline for some of the most challenged children and fueling fears of an education crisis.<br />
<br />
Experts argued that by at least partially closing its schools for 35 weeks, Italy, already lagging behind the rest of Europe in key educational indicators and hoping for a strong post-pandemic recovery, had threatened its long term prospects. The country with Europe’s oldest population has risked leaving behind its youth, which is its greatest and rarest resource.<br />
<br />
While it is too early for reliable statistics, teachers, principals, advocates and social workers say they have seen a sharp increase in the number of students falling out of the system. Even those who stayed in are clearly falling behind.<br />
<br />
The problem is especially acute around the southern city of Naples. Schools here have remained closed longer than the rest of the country, in part because the president of the wider Campania region, Vincenzo De Luca, insisted they were a potential source of infection. At one point, he mocked the notion that children in his region were “crying to go to school.” Between September and January, high school students in Naples only physically went to school for 27 days, according to the humanitarian organization Save the Children, a national low. In Naples, the dropout rate is about 20 percent, twice the European average and in the city’s outskirts it is even higher. Teachers there have struggled to keep students interested in school, and worry that months of c
    CIPG_20210415_NYT_Italy-Dropouts_A73...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 15 APRIL 2021: Antonia Sivero (13), a third grade student, attends an online Italian class held by her teacher Francesco Uccello in Ponticelli, a district in the outskirts of Naples, Italy, on April 15th 2021. <br />
<br />
Even before the coronavirus pandemic, Italy had among the highest dropout rates in the European Union. But over the last year it has kept its schools at least in part closed about three times longer than France, and more than Spain or Germany and just about all other member states, severing a lifeline for some of the most challenged children and fueling fears of an education crisis.<br />
<br />
Experts argued that by at least partially closing its schools for 35 weeks, Italy, already lagging behind the rest of Europe in key educational indicators and hoping for a strong post-pandemic recovery, had threatened its long term prospects. The country with Europe’s oldest population has risked leaving behind its youth, which is its greatest and rarest resource.<br />
<br />
While it is too early for reliable statistics, teachers, principals, advocates and social workers say they have seen a sharp increase in the number of students falling out of the system. Even those who stayed in are clearly falling behind.<br />
<br />
The problem is especially acute around the southern city of Naples. Schools here have remained closed longer than the rest of the country, in part because the president of the wider Campania region, Vincenzo De Luca, insisted they were a potential source of infection. At one point, he mocked the notion that children in his region were “crying to go to school.” Between September and January, high school students in Naples only physically went to school for 27 days, according to the humanitarian organization Save the Children, a national low. In Naples, the dropout rate is about 20 percent, twice the European average and in the city’s outskirts it is even higher. Teachers there have struggled to keep students interested in school, and worry that months of c
    CIPG_20210415_NYT_Italy-Dropouts_A73...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 14 APRIL 2021: Teenagers are seen here on a scooter in Scampia, a district in the outskirts of Naples, Italy, on April 14th 2021. <br />
<br />
Even before the coronavirus pandemic, Italy had among the highest dropout rates in the European Union. But over the last year it has kept its schools at least in part closed about three times longer than France, and more than Spain or Germany and just about all other member states, severing a lifeline for some of the most challenged children and fueling fears of an education crisis.<br />
<br />
Experts argued that by at least partially closing its schools for 35 weeks, Italy, already lagging behind the rest of Europe in key educational indicators and hoping for a strong post-pandemic recovery, had threatened its long term prospects. The country with Europe’s oldest population has risked leaving behind its youth, which is its greatest and rarest resource.<br />
<br />
While it is too early for reliable statistics, teachers, principals, advocates and social workers say they have seen a sharp increase in the number of students falling out of the system. Even those who stayed in are clearly falling behind.<br />
<br />
The problem is especially acute around the southern city of Naples. Schools here have remained closed longer than the rest of the country, in part because the president of the wider Campania region, Vincenzo De Luca, insisted they were a potential source of infection. At one point, he mocked the notion that children in his region were “crying to go to school.” Between September and January, high school students in Naples only physically went to school for 27 days, according to the humanitarian organization Save the Children, a national low. In Naples, the dropout rate is about 20 percent, twice the European average and in the city’s outskirts it is even higher. Teachers there have struggled to keep students interested in school, and worry that months of closed classrooms would shut students out for good.
    CIPG_20210414_NYT_Italy-Dropouts_A73...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 14 APRIL 2021: Teenagers are seen here on a scooter in Scampia, a district in the outskirts of Naples, Italy, on April 14th 2021. <br />
<br />
Even before the coronavirus pandemic, Italy had among the highest dropout rates in the European Union. But over the last year it has kept its schools at least in part closed about three times longer than France, and more than Spain or Germany and just about all other member states, severing a lifeline for some of the most challenged children and fueling fears of an education crisis.<br />
<br />
Experts argued that by at least partially closing its schools for 35 weeks, Italy, already lagging behind the rest of Europe in key educational indicators and hoping for a strong post-pandemic recovery, had threatened its long term prospects. The country with Europe’s oldest population has risked leaving behind its youth, which is its greatest and rarest resource.<br />
<br />
While it is too early for reliable statistics, teachers, principals, advocates and social workers say they have seen a sharp increase in the number of students falling out of the system. Even those who stayed in are clearly falling behind.<br />
<br />
The problem is especially acute around the southern city of Naples. Schools here have remained closed longer than the rest of the country, in part because the president of the wider Campania region, Vincenzo De Luca, insisted they were a potential source of infection. At one point, he mocked the notion that children in his region were “crying to go to school.” Between September and January, high school students in Naples only physically went to school for 27 days, according to the humanitarian organization Save the Children, a national low. In Naples, the dropout rate is about 20 percent, twice the European average and in the city’s outskirts it is even higher. Teachers there have struggled to keep students interested in school, and worry that months of closed classrooms would shut students out for good.
    CIPG_20210414_NYT_Italy-Dropouts_A73...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 14 APRIL 2021: A view of the "Sails" housing project in Scampia, a district in the outskirts of Naples known across Italy as a tough place plagued for years by the Camorra mafia, is seen here in Naples, Italy, on April 14th 2021. <br />
<br />
Even before the coronavirus pandemic, Italy had among the highest dropout rates in the European Union. But over the last year it has kept its schools at least in part closed about three times longer than France, and more than Spain or Germany and just about all other member states, severing a lifeline for some of the most challenged children and fueling fears of an education crisis.<br />
<br />
Experts argued that by at least partially closing its schools for 35 weeks, Italy, already lagging behind the rest of Europe in key educational indicators and hoping for a strong post-pandemic recovery, had threatened its long term prospects. The country with Europe’s oldest population has risked leaving behind its youth, which is its greatest and rarest resource.<br />
<br />
While it is too early for reliable statistics, teachers, principals, advocates and social workers say they have seen a sharp increase in the number of students falling out of the system. Even those who stayed in are clearly falling behind.<br />
<br />
The problem is especially acute around the southern city of Naples. Schools here have remained closed longer than the rest of the country, in part because the president of the wider Campania region, Vincenzo De Luca, insisted they were a potential source of infection. At one point, he mocked the notion that children in his region were “crying to go to school.” Between September and January, high school students in Naples only physically went to school for 27 days, according to the humanitarian organization Save the Children, a national low. In Naples, the dropout rate is about 20 percent, twice the European average and in the city’s outskirts it is even higher. Teachers there have struggled to keep students interested in school, and wo
    CIPG_20210414_NYT_Italy-Dropouts_A73...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 14 APRIL 2021: A view of the "Sails" housing project in Scampia, a district in the outskirts of Naples known across Italy as a tough place plagued for years by the Camorra mafia, is seen here in Naples, Italy, on April 14th 2021. <br />
<br />
Even before the coronavirus pandemic, Italy had among the highest dropout rates in the European Union. But over the last year it has kept its schools at least in part closed about three times longer than France, and more than Spain or Germany and just about all other member states, severing a lifeline for some of the most challenged children and fueling fears of an education crisis.<br />
<br />
Experts argued that by at least partially closing its schools for 35 weeks, Italy, already lagging behind the rest of Europe in key educational indicators and hoping for a strong post-pandemic recovery, had threatened its long term prospects. The country with Europe’s oldest population has risked leaving behind its youth, which is its greatest and rarest resource.<br />
<br />
While it is too early for reliable statistics, teachers, principals, advocates and social workers say they have seen a sharp increase in the number of students falling out of the system. Even those who stayed in are clearly falling behind.<br />
<br />
The problem is especially acute around the southern city of Naples. Schools here have remained closed longer than the rest of the country, in part because the president of the wider Campania region, Vincenzo De Luca, insisted they were a potential source of infection. At one point, he mocked the notion that children in his region were “crying to go to school.” Between September and January, high school students in Naples only physically went to school for 27 days, according to the humanitarian organization Save the Children, a national low. In Naples, the dropout rate is about 20 percent, twice the European average and in the city’s outskirts it is even higher. Teachers there have struggled to keep students interested in school, and wo
    CIPG_20210414_NYT_Italy-Dropouts_A73...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 14 APRIL 2021: A teenager walks his dog by a housiing project in Ponticelli, a district in the outskirts of Naples, Italy, on April 14th 2021. <br />
<br />
Even before the coronavirus pandemic, Italy had among the highest dropout rates in the European Union. But over the last year it has kept its schools at least in part closed about three times longer than France, and more than Spain or Germany and just about all other member states, severing a lifeline for some of the most challenged children and fueling fears of an education crisis.<br />
<br />
Experts argued that by at least partially closing its schools for 35 weeks, Italy, already lagging behind the rest of Europe in key educational indicators and hoping for a strong post-pandemic recovery, had threatened its long term prospects. The country with Europe’s oldest population has risked leaving behind its youth, which is its greatest and rarest resource.<br />
<br />
While it is too early for reliable statistics, teachers, principals, advocates and social workers say they have seen a sharp increase in the number of students falling out of the system. Even those who stayed in are clearly falling behind.<br />
<br />
The problem is especially acute around the southern city of Naples. Schools here have remained closed longer than the rest of the country, in part because the president of the wider Campania region, Vincenzo De Luca, insisted they were a potential source of infection. At one point, he mocked the notion that children in his region were “crying to go to school.” Between September and January, high school students in Naples only physically went to school for 27 days, according to the humanitarian organization Save the Children, a national low. In Naples, the dropout rate is about 20 percent, twice the European average and in the city’s outskirts it is even higher. Teachers there have struggled to keep students interested in school, and worry that months of closed classrooms would shut students out for good.
    CIPG_20210414_NYT_Italy-Dropouts_A73...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 14 APRIL 2021: Third grade students are seen here at the "Melissa Bassi" middle school in Ponticelli, a district in the outskirts of  Naples, Italy, on April 14th 2021. Over the past months, the school has organised workshop to get the local kids, who were most likely to not attend the online classes, come to school and build solid personal relationships with the teachers. <br />
<br />
Even before the coronavirus pandemic, Italy had among the highest dropout rates in the European Union. But over the last year it has kept its schools at least in part closed about three times longer than France, and more than Spain or Germany and just about all other member states, severing a lifeline for some of the most challenged children and fueling fears of an education crisis.<br />
<br />
Experts argued that by at least partially closing its schools for 35 weeks, Italy, already lagging behind the rest of Europe in key educational indicators and hoping for a strong post-pandemic recovery, had threatened its long term prospects. The country with Europe’s oldest population has risked leaving behind its youth, which is its greatest and rarest resource.<br />
<br />
While it is too early for reliable statistics, teachers, principals, advocates and social workers say they have seen a sharp increase in the number of students falling out of the system. Even those who stayed in are clearly falling behind.<br />
<br />
The problem is especially acute around the southern city of Naples. Schools here have remained closed longer than the rest of the country, in part because the president of the wider Campania region, Vincenzo De Luca, insisted they were a potential source of infection. At one point, he mocked the notion that children in his region were “crying to go to school.” Between September and January, high school students in Naples only physically went to school for 27 days, according to the humanitarian organization Save the Children, a national low. In Naples, the dropout rate is about 20 percent, twice
    CIPG_20210414_NYT_Italy-Dropouts_A73...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 15 APRIL 2021: Antonia Sivero (13), a third grade student, attends an online Italian class held by her teacher Francesco Uccello in Ponticelli, a district in the outskirts of Naples, Italy, on April 15th 2021. <br />
<br />
Even before the coronavirus pandemic, Italy had among the highest dropout rates in the European Union. But over the last year it has kept its schools at least in part closed about three times longer than France, and more than Spain or Germany and just about all other member states, severing a lifeline for some of the most challenged children and fueling fears of an education crisis.<br />
<br />
Experts argued that by at least partially closing its schools for 35 weeks, Italy, already lagging behind the rest of Europe in key educational indicators and hoping for a strong post-pandemic recovery, had threatened its long term prospects. The country with Europe’s oldest population has risked leaving behind its youth, which is its greatest and rarest resource.<br />
<br />
While it is too early for reliable statistics, teachers, principals, advocates and social workers say they have seen a sharp increase in the number of students falling out of the system. Even those who stayed in are clearly falling behind.<br />
<br />
The problem is especially acute around the southern city of Naples. Schools here have remained closed longer than the rest of the country, in part because the president of the wider Campania region, Vincenzo De Luca, insisted they were a potential source of infection. At one point, he mocked the notion that children in his region were “crying to go to school.” Between September and January, high school students in Naples only physically went to school for 27 days, according to the humanitarian organization Save the Children, a national low. In Naples, the dropout rate is about 20 percent, twice the European average and in the city’s outskirts it is even higher. Teachers there have struggled to keep students interested in school, and worry that months of c
    CIPG_20210415_NYT_Italy-Dropouts_A73...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 14 APRIL 2021: Matteo Cantalino (16), who risks dropping out of  school, poses for a portrait in Scampia, a district in the outskirts of Naples, Italy, on April 14th 2021. Matteo said he was failing and got left back with online classes. He'd like to go back to school when they re-open, but he's not sure he will be able to. He'd like to finish his studies and go to college.<br />
<br />
Even before the coronavirus pandemic, Italy had among the highest dropout rates in the European Union. But over the last year it has kept its schools at least in part closed about three times longer than France, and more than Spain or Germany and just about all other member states, severing a lifeline for some of the most challenged children and fueling fears of an education crisis.<br />
<br />
Experts argued that by at least partially closing its schools for 35 weeks, Italy, already lagging behind the rest of Europe in key educational indicators and hoping for a strong post-pandemic recovery, had threatened its long term prospects. The country with Europe’s oldest population has risked leaving behind its youth, which is its greatest and rarest resource.<br />
<br />
While it is too early for reliable statistics, teachers, principals, advocates and social workers say they have seen a sharp increase in the number of students falling out of the system. Even those who stayed in are clearly falling behind.<br />
<br />
The problem is especially acute around the southern city of Naples. Schools here have remained closed longer than the rest of the country, in part because the president of the wider Campania region, Vincenzo De Luca, insisted they were a potential source of infection. At one point, he mocked the notion that children in his region were “crying to go to school.” Between September and January, high school students in Naples only physically went to school for 27 days, according to the humanitarian organization Save the Children, a national low. In Naples, the dropout rate is about 20 percent, twice
    CIPG_20210414_NYT_Italy-Dropouts_A73...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 14 APRIL 2021: Matteo Cantalino (16), who risks dropping out of  school, poses for a portrait in Scampia, a district in the outskirts of Naples, Italy, on April 14th 2021. Matteo said he was failing and got left back with online classes. He'd like to go back to school when they re-open, but he's not sure he will be able to. He'd like to finish his studies and go to college.<br />
<br />
Even before the coronavirus pandemic, Italy had among the highest dropout rates in the European Union. But over the last year it has kept its schools at least in part closed about three times longer than France, and more than Spain or Germany and just about all other member states, severing a lifeline for some of the most challenged children and fueling fears of an education crisis.<br />
<br />
Experts argued that by at least partially closing its schools for 35 weeks, Italy, already lagging behind the rest of Europe in key educational indicators and hoping for a strong post-pandemic recovery, had threatened its long term prospects. The country with Europe’s oldest population has risked leaving behind its youth, which is its greatest and rarest resource.<br />
<br />
While it is too early for reliable statistics, teachers, principals, advocates and social workers say they have seen a sharp increase in the number of students falling out of the system. Even those who stayed in are clearly falling behind.<br />
<br />
The problem is especially acute around the southern city of Naples. Schools here have remained closed longer than the rest of the country, in part because the president of the wider Campania region, Vincenzo De Luca, insisted they were a potential source of infection. At one point, he mocked the notion that children in his region were “crying to go to school.” Between September and January, high school students in Naples only physically went to school for 27 days, according to the humanitarian organization Save the Children, a national low. In Naples, the dropout rate is about 20 percent, twice
    CIPG_20210414_NYT_Italy-Dropouts_A73...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 14 APRIL 2021: Matteo Cantalino (16), who risks dropping out of  school, poses for a portrait in Scampia, a district in the outskirts of Naples, Italy, on April 14th 2021. Matteo said he was failing and got left back with online classes. He'd like to go back to school when they re-open, but he's not sure he will be able to. He'd like to finish his studies and go to college.<br />
<br />
Even before the coronavirus pandemic, Italy had among the highest dropout rates in the European Union. But over the last year it has kept its schools at least in part closed about three times longer than France, and more than Spain or Germany and just about all other member states, severing a lifeline for some of the most challenged children and fueling fears of an education crisis.<br />
<br />
Experts argued that by at least partially closing its schools for 35 weeks, Italy, already lagging behind the rest of Europe in key educational indicators and hoping for a strong post-pandemic recovery, had threatened its long term prospects. The country with Europe’s oldest population has risked leaving behind its youth, which is its greatest and rarest resource.<br />
<br />
While it is too early for reliable statistics, teachers, principals, advocates and social workers say they have seen a sharp increase in the number of students falling out of the system. Even those who stayed in are clearly falling behind.<br />
<br />
The problem is especially acute around the southern city of Naples. Schools here have remained closed longer than the rest of the country, in part because the president of the wider Campania region, Vincenzo De Luca, insisted they were a potential source of infection. At one point, he mocked the notion that children in his region were “crying to go to school.” Between September and January, high school students in Naples only physically went to school for 27 days, according to the humanitarian organization Save the Children, a national low. In Naples, the dropout rate is about 20 percent, twice
    CIPG_20210414_NYT_Italy-Dropouts_A73...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 14 APRIL 2021: A teenager is seen here by a housiing project in Ponticelli, a district in the outskirts of Naples, Italy, on April 14th 2021. <br />
<br />
Even before the coronavirus pandemic, Italy had among the highest dropout rates in the European Union. But over the last year it has kept its schools at least in part closed about three times longer than France, and more than Spain or Germany and just about all other member states, severing a lifeline for some of the most challenged children and fueling fears of an education crisis.<br />
<br />
Experts argued that by at least partially closing its schools for 35 weeks, Italy, already lagging behind the rest of Europe in key educational indicators and hoping for a strong post-pandemic recovery, had threatened its long term prospects. The country with Europe’s oldest population has risked leaving behind its youth, which is its greatest and rarest resource.<br />
<br />
While it is too early for reliable statistics, teachers, principals, advocates and social workers say they have seen a sharp increase in the number of students falling out of the system. Even those who stayed in are clearly falling behind.<br />
<br />
The problem is especially acute around the southern city of Naples. Schools here have remained closed longer than the rest of the country, in part because the president of the wider Campania region, Vincenzo De Luca, insisted they were a potential source of infection. At one point, he mocked the notion that children in his region were “crying to go to school.” Between September and January, high school students in Naples only physically went to school for 27 days, according to the humanitarian organization Save the Children, a national low. In Naples, the dropout rate is about 20 percent, twice the European average and in the city’s outskirts it is even higher. Teachers there have struggled to keep students interested in school, and worry that months of closed classrooms would shut students out for good.
    CIPG_20210414_NYT_Italy-Dropouts_A73...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 14 APRIL 2021: A housing project is seen here in Ponticelli, a district in the outskirts of Naples, Italy, on April 14th 2021. <br />
<br />
Even before the coronavirus pandemic, Italy had among the highest dropout rates in the European Union. But over the last year it has kept its schools at least in part closed about three times longer than France, and more than Spain or Germany and just about all other member states, severing a lifeline for some of the most challenged children and fueling fears of an education crisis.<br />
<br />
Experts argued that by at least partially closing its schools for 35 weeks, Italy, already lagging behind the rest of Europe in key educational indicators and hoping for a strong post-pandemic recovery, had threatened its long term prospects. The country with Europe’s oldest population has risked leaving behind its youth, which is its greatest and rarest resource.<br />
<br />
While it is too early for reliable statistics, teachers, principals, advocates and social workers say they have seen a sharp increase in the number of students falling out of the system. Even those who stayed in are clearly falling behind.<br />
<br />
The problem is especially acute around the southern city of Naples. Schools here have remained closed longer than the rest of the country, in part because the president of the wider Campania region, Vincenzo De Luca, insisted they were a potential source of infection. At one point, he mocked the notion that children in his region were “crying to go to school.” Between September and January, high school students in Naples only physically went to school for 27 days, according to the humanitarian organization Save the Children, a national low. In Naples, the dropout rate is about 20 percent, twice the European average and in the city’s outskirts it is even higher. Teachers there have struggled to keep students interested in school, and worry that months of closed classrooms would shut students out for good.
    CIPG_20210414_NYT_Italy-Dropouts_A73...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 14 APRIL 2021: School chairs are piled up here at the "Melissa Bassi" middle school in Ponticelli, a district in the outskirts of  Naples, Italy, on April 14th 2021. <br />
<br />
Even before the coronavirus pandemic, Italy had among the highest dropout rates in the European Union. But over the last year it has kept its schools at least in part closed about three times longer than France, and more than Spain or Germany and just about all other member states, severing a lifeline for some of the most challenged children and fueling fears of an education crisis.<br />
<br />
Experts argued that by at least partially closing its schools for 35 weeks, Italy, already lagging behind the rest of Europe in key educational indicators and hoping for a strong post-pandemic recovery, had threatened its long term prospects. The country with Europe’s oldest population has risked leaving behind its youth, which is its greatest and rarest resource.<br />
<br />
While it is too early for reliable statistics, teachers, principals, advocates and social workers say they have seen a sharp increase in the number of students falling out of the system. Even those who stayed in are clearly falling behind.<br />
<br />
The problem is especially acute around the southern city of Naples. Schools here have remained closed longer than the rest of the country, in part because the president of the wider Campania region, Vincenzo De Luca, insisted they were a potential source of infection. At one point, he mocked the notion that children in his region were “crying to go to school.” Between September and January, high school students in Naples only physically went to school for 27 days, according to the humanitarian organization Save the Children, a national low. In Naples, the dropout rate is about 20 percent, twice the European average and in the city’s outskirts it is even higher. Teachers there have struggled to keep students interested in school, and worry that months of closed classrooms would shut students out for
    CIPG_20210414_NYT_Italy-Dropouts_A73...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 14 APRIL 2021: School desks are piled up here at the "Melissa Bassi" middle school in Ponticelli, a district in the outskirts of  Naples, Italy, on April 14th 2021. <br />
<br />
Even before the coronavirus pandemic, Italy had among the highest dropout rates in the European Union. But over the last year it has kept its schools at least in part closed about three times longer than France, and more than Spain or Germany and just about all other member states, severing a lifeline for some of the most challenged children and fueling fears of an education crisis.<br />
<br />
Experts argued that by at least partially closing its schools for 35 weeks, Italy, already lagging behind the rest of Europe in key educational indicators and hoping for a strong post-pandemic recovery, had threatened its long term prospects. The country with Europe’s oldest population has risked leaving behind its youth, which is its greatest and rarest resource.<br />
<br />
While it is too early for reliable statistics, teachers, principals, advocates and social workers say they have seen a sharp increase in the number of students falling out of the system. Even those who stayed in are clearly falling behind.<br />
<br />
The problem is especially acute around the southern city of Naples. Schools here have remained closed longer than the rest of the country, in part because the president of the wider Campania region, Vincenzo De Luca, insisted they were a potential source of infection. At one point, he mocked the notion that children in his region were “crying to go to school.” Between September and January, high school students in Naples only physically went to school for 27 days, according to the humanitarian organization Save the Children, a national low. In Naples, the dropout rate is about 20 percent, twice the European average and in the city’s outskirts it is even higher. Teachers there have struggled to keep students interested in school, and worry that months of closed classrooms would shut students out for
    CIPG_20210414_NYT_Italy-Dropouts_A73...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 14 APRIL 2021: Marta Compagnone (36), head of school dropouts at the "Melissa Bassi" high school, poses for a portrait in the high school  in Scampia, a district in the outskirts of Naples, Italy, on April 14th 2021. Teachers at the Melissa Bassi high school had made significant progress in getting local children into school through art projects, workshops and personal tutoring. The challenge is enormous as there is no phone reception in some of the neighborhood’s most neglected housing projects, children are often crammed with multiple family members into a few rooms, and are easily discouraged, teachers said.<br />
<br />
Even before the coronavirus pandemic, Italy had among the highest dropout rates in the European Union. But over the last year it has kept its schools at least in part closed about three times longer than France, and more than Spain or Germany and just about all other member states, severing a lifeline for some of the most challenged children and fueling fears of an education crisis.<br />
<br />
Experts argued that by at least partially closing its schools for 35 weeks, Italy, already lagging behind the rest of Europe in key educational indicators and hoping for a strong post-pandemic recovery, had threatened its long term prospects. The country with Europe’s oldest population has risked leaving behind its youth, which is its greatest and rarest resource.<br />
<br />
While it is too early for reliable statistics, teachers, principals, advocates and social workers say they have seen a sharp increase in the number of students falling out of the system. Even those who stayed in are clearly falling behind.<br />
<br />
The problem is especially acute around the southern city of Naples. Schools here have remained closed longer than the rest of the country, in part because the president of the wider Campania region, Vincenzo De Luca, insisted they were a potential source of infection. At one point, he mocked the notion that children in his region were “crying to go to schoo
    CIPG_20210414_NYT_Italy-Dropouts_A73...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 14 APRIL 2021: Marta Compagnone (36), head of school dropouts at the "Melissa Bassi" high school, poses for a portrait in the high school  in Scampia, a district in the outskirts of Naples, Italy, on April 14th 2021. Teachers at the Melissa Bassi high school had made significant progress in getting local children into school through art projects, workshops and personal tutoring. The challenge is enormous as there is no phone reception in some of the neighborhood’s most neglected housing projects, children are often crammed with multiple family members into a few rooms, and are easily discouraged, teachers said.<br />
<br />
Even before the coronavirus pandemic, Italy had among the highest dropout rates in the European Union. But over the last year it has kept its schools at least in part closed about three times longer than France, and more than Spain or Germany and just about all other member states, severing a lifeline for some of the most challenged children and fueling fears of an education crisis.<br />
<br />
Experts argued that by at least partially closing its schools for 35 weeks, Italy, already lagging behind the rest of Europe in key educational indicators and hoping for a strong post-pandemic recovery, had threatened its long term prospects. The country with Europe’s oldest population has risked leaving behind its youth, which is its greatest and rarest resource.<br />
<br />
While it is too early for reliable statistics, teachers, principals, advocates and social workers say they have seen a sharp increase in the number of students falling out of the system. Even those who stayed in are clearly falling behind.<br />
<br />
The problem is especially acute around the southern city of Naples. Schools here have remained closed longer than the rest of the country, in part because the president of the wider Campania region, Vincenzo De Luca, insisted they were a potential source of infection. At one point, he mocked the notion that children in his region were “crying to go to schoo
    CIPG_20210414_NYT_Italy-Dropouts_A73...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 14 APRIL 2021: Francesco Saturno, a 13 years old third grade student, posese for a portrait at his home in Ponticelli, a district in the outskirts of Naples, Italy, on April 14th 2021. Francesco spent his mornings helping in his grandfather’s fruit shop, sleeping in or glued to his Playstation. He only twice logged on to his online class. His mother, Angela Esposito, 33, who herself dropped out of high school, worried that he might leave school and follow in the footsteps of his father, who earns tips of loose change for babysitting parked cars in Naples. “I am scared that if he doesn’t go to school he is going to get lost,” she said. “And getting lost in Naples is dangerous.”<br />
<br />
Even before the coronavirus pandemic, Italy had among the highest dropout rates in the European Union. But over the last year it has kept its schools at least in part closed about three times longer than France, and more than Spain or Germany and just about all other member states, severing a lifeline for some of the most challenged children and fueling fears of an education crisis.<br />
<br />
Experts argued that by at least partially closing its schools for 35 weeks, Italy, already lagging behind the rest of Europe in key educational indicators and hoping for a strong post-pandemic recovery, had threatened its long term prospects. The country with Europe’s oldest population has risked leaving behind its youth, which is its greatest and rarest resource.<br />
<br />
While it is too early for reliable statistics, teachers, principals, advocates and social workers say they have seen a sharp increase in the number of students falling out of the system. Even those who stayed in are clearly falling behind.<br />
<br />
The problem is especially acute around the southern city of Naples. Schools here have remained closed longer than the rest of the country, in part because the president of the wider Campania region, Vincenzo De Luca, insisted they were a potential source of infection. At one point, h
    CIPG_20210414_NYT_Italy-Dropouts_A73...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 14 APRIL 2021: Francesco Saturno, a 13 years old third grade student, spends time on his smartphone on his bed, where he also sits to rarely attend online school classes, at home in Ponticelli, a district in the outskirts of Naples, Italy, on April 14th 2021. Francesco spent his mornings helping in his grandfather’s fruit shop, sleeping in or glued to his Playstation. He only twice logged on to his online class. His mother, Angela Esposito, 33, who herself dropped out of high school, worried that he might leave school and follow in the footsteps of his father, who earns tips of loose change for babysitting parked cars in Naples. “I am scared that if he doesn’t go to school he is going to get lost,” she said. “And getting lost in Naples is dangerous.”<br />
<br />
Even before the coronavirus pandemic, Italy had among the highest dropout rates in the European Union. But over the last year it has kept its schools at least in part closed about three times longer than France, and more than Spain or Germany and just about all other member states, severing a lifeline for some of the most challenged children and fueling fears of an education crisis.<br />
<br />
Experts argued that by at least partially closing its schools for 35 weeks, Italy, already lagging behind the rest of Europe in key educational indicators and hoping for a strong post-pandemic recovery, had threatened its long term prospects. The country with Europe’s oldest population has risked leaving behind its youth, which is its greatest and rarest resource.<br />
<br />
While it is too early for reliable statistics, teachers, principals, advocates and social workers say they have seen a sharp increase in the number of students falling out of the system. Even those who stayed in are clearly falling behind.<br />
<br />
The problem is especially acute around the southern city of Naples. Schools here have remained closed longer than the rest of the country, in part because the president of the wider Campania region, Vincenzo D
    CIPG_20210414_NYT_Italy-Dropouts_A73...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 14 APRIL 2021: A view of the gym with a banner saynig "La Scuola Per Napoli" (The school for Naples), is seen here at the "Melissa Bassi" high school in Scampia, a district in the outskirts of Naples, Italy, on April 14th 2021. Teachers at the Melissa Bassi high school had made significant progress in getting local children into school through art projects, workshops and personal tutoring. The challenge is enormous as there is no phone reception in some of the neighborhood’s most neglected housing projects, children are often crammed with multiple family members into a few rooms, and are easily discouraged, teachers said.<br />
<br />
Even before the coronavirus pandemic, Italy had among the highest dropout rates in the European Union. But over the last year it has kept its schools at least in part closed about three times longer than France, and more than Spain or Germany and just about all other member states, severing a lifeline for some of the most challenged children and fueling fears of an education crisis.<br />
<br />
Experts argued that by at least partially closing its schools for 35 weeks, Italy, already lagging behind the rest of Europe in key educational indicators and hoping for a strong post-pandemic recovery, had threatened its long term prospects. The country with Europe’s oldest population has risked leaving behind its youth, which is its greatest and rarest resource.<br />
<br />
While it is too early for reliable statistics, teachers, principals, advocates and social workers say they have seen a sharp increase in the number of students falling out of the system. Even those who stayed in are clearly falling behind.<br />
<br />
The problem is especially acute around the southern city of Naples. Schools here have remained closed longer than the rest of the country, in part because the president of the wider Campania region, Vincenzo De Luca, insisted they were a potential source of infection. At one point, he mocked the notion that children in his region were “crying to
    CIPG_20210414_NYT_Italy-Dropouts_A73...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 14 APRIL 2021: Giordano Francesco (16, right), who risks dropping out of school, poses for a portrait in Scampia, a district in the outskirts of Naples, Italy, on April 14th 2021. Giordano said he often fell asleep, grew bored and frustrated with the online classes he followed on his phone. He got into arguments with teachers because he often logged off to help his grandfather, who has Alzheimer’s disease, eat or use the bathroom. His mother, who left school at ten and lost her job as a theater cleaner during the pandemic, asked him to finish the school year. He said he would, and then drop out.<br />
<br />
Even before the coronavirus pandemic, Italy had among the highest dropout rates in the European Union. But over the last year it has kept its schools at least in part closed about three times longer than France, and more than Spain or Germany and just about all other member states, severing a lifeline for some of the most challenged children and fueling fears of an education crisis.<br />
<br />
Experts argued that by at least partially closing its schools for 35 weeks, Italy, already lagging behind the rest of Europe in key educational indicators and hoping for a strong post-pandemic recovery, had threatened its long term prospects. The country with Europe’s oldest population has risked leaving behind its youth, which is its greatest and rarest resource.<br />
<br />
While it is too early for reliable statistics, teachers, principals, advocates and social workers say they have seen a sharp increase in the number of students falling out of the system. Even those who stayed in are clearly falling behind.<br />
<br />
The problem is especially acute around the southern city of Naples. Schools here have remained closed longer than the rest of the country, in part because the president of the wider Campania region, Vincenzo De Luca, insisted they were a potential source of infection. At one point, he mocked the notion that children in his region were “crying to go to school.” Between Se
    CIPG_20210414_NYT_Italy-Dropouts_A73...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 14 APRIL 2021: Francesco Saturno, a 13 years old third grade student, spends time on his smartphone on his bed, where he also sits to rarely attend online school classes, at home in Ponticelli, a district in the outskirts of Naples, Italy, on April 14th 2021. Francesco spent his mornings helping in his grandfather’s fruit shop, sleeping in or glued to his Playstation. He only twice logged on to his online class. His mother, Angela Esposito, 33, who herself dropped out of high school, worried that he might leave school and follow in the footsteps of his father, who earns tips of loose change for babysitting parked cars in Naples. “I am scared that if he doesn’t go to school he is going to get lost,” she said. “And getting lost in Naples is dangerous.”<br />
<br />
Even before the coronavirus pandemic, Italy had among the highest dropout rates in the European Union. But over the last year it has kept its schools at least in part closed about three times longer than France, and more than Spain or Germany and just about all other member states, severing a lifeline for some of the most challenged children and fueling fears of an education crisis.<br />
<br />
Experts argued that by at least partially closing its schools for 35 weeks, Italy, already lagging behind the rest of Europe in key educational indicators and hoping for a strong post-pandemic recovery, had threatened its long term prospects. The country with Europe’s oldest population has risked leaving behind its youth, which is its greatest and rarest resource.<br />
<br />
While it is too early for reliable statistics, teachers, principals, advocates and social workers say they have seen a sharp increase in the number of students falling out of the system. Even those who stayed in are clearly falling behind.<br />
<br />
The problem is especially acute around the southern city of Naples. Schools here have remained closed longer than the rest of the country, in part because the president of the wider Campania region, Vincenzo D
    CIPG_20210414_NYT_Italy-Dropouts_A73...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 14 APRIL 2021: Giordano Francesco (16), who risks dropping out of school, poses for a portrait in Scampia, a district in the outskirts of Naples, Italy, on April 14th 2021. Giordano said he often fell asleep, grew bored and frustrated with the online classes he followed on his phone. He got into arguments with teachers because he often logged off to help his grandfather, who has Alzheimer’s disease, eat or use the bathroom. His mother, who left school at ten and lost her job as a theater cleaner during the pandemic, asked him to finish the school year. He said he would, and then drop out.<br />
<br />
Even before the coronavirus pandemic, Italy had among the highest dropout rates in the European Union. But over the last year it has kept its schools at least in part closed about three times longer than France, and more than Spain or Germany and just about all other member states, severing a lifeline for some of the most challenged children and fueling fears of an education crisis.<br />
<br />
Experts argued that by at least partially closing its schools for 35 weeks, Italy, already lagging behind the rest of Europe in key educational indicators and hoping for a strong post-pandemic recovery, had threatened its long term prospects. The country with Europe’s oldest population has risked leaving behind its youth, which is its greatest and rarest resource.<br />
<br />
While it is too early for reliable statistics, teachers, principals, advocates and social workers say they have seen a sharp increase in the number of students falling out of the system. Even those who stayed in are clearly falling behind.<br />
<br />
The problem is especially acute around the southern city of Naples. Schools here have remained closed longer than the rest of the country, in part because the president of the wider Campania region, Vincenzo De Luca, insisted they were a potential source of infection. At one point, he mocked the notion that children in his region were “crying to go to school.” Between September
    CIPG_20210414_NYT_Italy-Dropouts_A73...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 14 APRIL 2021: Giordano Francesco (16), who risks dropping out of school, poses for a portrait in Scampia, a district in the outskirts of Naples, Italy, on April 14th 2021. Giordano said he often fell asleep, grew bored and frustrated with the online classes he followed on his phone. He got into arguments with teachers because he often logged off to help his grandfather, who has Alzheimer’s disease, eat or use the bathroom. His mother, who left school at ten and lost her job as a theater cleaner during the pandemic, asked him to finish the school year. He said he would, and then drop out.<br />
<br />
Even before the coronavirus pandemic, Italy had among the highest dropout rates in the European Union. But over the last year it has kept its schools at least in part closed about three times longer than France, and more than Spain or Germany and just about all other member states, severing a lifeline for some of the most challenged children and fueling fears of an education crisis.<br />
<br />
Experts argued that by at least partially closing its schools for 35 weeks, Italy, already lagging behind the rest of Europe in key educational indicators and hoping for a strong post-pandemic recovery, had threatened its long term prospects. The country with Europe’s oldest population has risked leaving behind its youth, which is its greatest and rarest resource.<br />
<br />
While it is too early for reliable statistics, teachers, principals, advocates and social workers say they have seen a sharp increase in the number of students falling out of the system. Even those who stayed in are clearly falling behind.<br />
<br />
The problem is especially acute around the southern city of Naples. Schools here have remained closed longer than the rest of the country, in part because the president of the wider Campania region, Vincenzo De Luca, insisted they were a potential source of infection. At one point, he mocked the notion that children in his region were “crying to go to school.” Between September
    CIPG_20210414_NYT_Italy-Dropouts_A73...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 14 APRIL 2021: Carmela Petillo (51), a math teacher at the "Melissa Bassi" high school, poses for a portrait in the high school  in Scampia, a district in the outskirts of Naples, Italy, on April 14th 2021. Teachers at the Melissa Bassi high school had made significant progress in getting local children into school through art projects, workshops and personal tutoring. The challenge is enormous as there is no phone reception in some of the neighborhood’s most neglected housing projects, children are often crammed with multiple family members into a few rooms, and are easily discouraged, teachers said.<br />
<br />
Even before the coronavirus pandemic, Italy had among the highest dropout rates in the European Union. But over the last year it has kept its schools at least in part closed about three times longer than France, and more than Spain or Germany and just about all other member states, severing a lifeline for some of the most challenged children and fueling fears of an education crisis.<br />
<br />
Experts argued that by at least partially closing its schools for 35 weeks, Italy, already lagging behind the rest of Europe in key educational indicators and hoping for a strong post-pandemic recovery, had threatened its long term prospects. The country with Europe’s oldest population has risked leaving behind its youth, which is its greatest and rarest resource.<br />
<br />
While it is too early for reliable statistics, teachers, principals, advocates and social workers say they have seen a sharp increase in the number of students falling out of the system. Even those who stayed in are clearly falling behind.<br />
<br />
The problem is especially acute around the southern city of Naples. Schools here have remained closed longer than the rest of the country, in part because the president of the wider Campania region, Vincenzo De Luca, insisted they were a potential source of infection. At one point, he mocked the notion that children in his region were “crying to go to school.” Betw
    CIPG_20210414_NYT_Italy-Dropouts_A73...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 14 APRIL 2021: Carmela Petillo (51), a math teacher at the "Melissa Bassi" high school, poses for a portrait in the high school  in Scampia, a district in the outskirts of Naples, Italy, on April 14th 2021. Teachers at the Melissa Bassi high school had made significant progress in getting local children into school through art projects, workshops and personal tutoring. The challenge is enormous as there is no phone reception in some of the neighborhood’s most neglected housing projects, children are often crammed with multiple family members into a few rooms, and are easily discouraged, teachers said.<br />
<br />
Even before the coronavirus pandemic, Italy had among the highest dropout rates in the European Union. But over the last year it has kept its schools at least in part closed about three times longer than France, and more than Spain or Germany and just about all other member states, severing a lifeline for some of the most challenged children and fueling fears of an education crisis.<br />
<br />
Experts argued that by at least partially closing its schools for 35 weeks, Italy, already lagging behind the rest of Europe in key educational indicators and hoping for a strong post-pandemic recovery, had threatened its long term prospects. The country with Europe’s oldest population has risked leaving behind its youth, which is its greatest and rarest resource.<br />
<br />
While it is too early for reliable statistics, teachers, principals, advocates and social workers say they have seen a sharp increase in the number of students falling out of the system. Even those who stayed in are clearly falling behind.<br />
<br />
The problem is especially acute around the southern city of Naples. Schools here have remained closed longer than the rest of the country, in part because the president of the wider Campania region, Vincenzo De Luca, insisted they were a potential source of infection. At one point, he mocked the notion that children in his region were “crying to go to school.” Betw
    CIPG_20210414_NYT_Italy-Dropouts_A73...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 14 APRIL 2021: An empty classroom is seen here at the "Melissa Bassi" high school in Scampia, a district in the outskirts of Naples, Italy, on April 14th 2021. Teachers at the Melissa Bassi high school had made significant progress in getting local children into school through art projects, workshops and personal tutoring. The challenge is enormous as there is no phone reception in some of the neighborhood’s most neglected housing projects, children are often crammed with multiple family members into a few rooms, and are easily discouraged, teachers said.<br />
<br />
Even before the coronavirus pandemic, Italy had among the highest dropout rates in the European Union. But over the last year it has kept its schools at least in part closed about three times longer than France, and more than Spain or Germany and just about all other member states, severing a lifeline for some of the most challenged children and fueling fears of an education crisis.<br />
<br />
Experts argued that by at least partially closing its schools for 35 weeks, Italy, already lagging behind the rest of Europe in key educational indicators and hoping for a strong post-pandemic recovery, had threatened its long term prospects. The country with Europe’s oldest population has risked leaving behind its youth, which is its greatest and rarest resource.<br />
<br />
While it is too early for reliable statistics, teachers, principals, advocates and social workers say they have seen a sharp increase in the number of students falling out of the system. Even those who stayed in are clearly falling behind.<br />
<br />
The problem is especially acute around the southern city of Naples. Schools here have remained closed longer than the rest of the country, in part because the president of the wider Campania region, Vincenzo De Luca, insisted they were a potential source of infection. At one point, he mocked the notion that children in his region were “crying to go to school.” Between September and January, high school students
    CIPG_20210414_NYT_Italy-Dropouts_A73...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 14 APRIL 2021: (R-L) Angela Esposito (33) and her two sons Francesco Saturno (13) and Angelo (10) are seen here at home in Ponticelli, a district in the outskirts of Naples, Italy, on April 14th 2021. Francesco spent his mornings helping in his grandfather’s fruit shop, sleeping in or glued to his Playstation. He only twice logged on to his online class. His mother, Angela Esposito, 33, who herself dropped out of high school, worried that he might leave school and follow in the footsteps of his father, who earns tips of loose change for babysitting parked cars in Naples. “I am scared that if he doesn’t go to school he is going to get lost,” she said. “And getting lost in Naples is dangerous.”<br />
<br />
Even before the coronavirus pandemic, Italy had among the highest dropout rates in the European Union. But over the last year it has kept its schools at least in part closed about three times longer than France, and more than Spain or Germany and just about all other member states, severing a lifeline for some of the most challenged children and fueling fears of an education crisis.<br />
<br />
Experts argued that by at least partially closing its schools for 35 weeks, Italy, already lagging behind the rest of Europe in key educational indicators and hoping for a strong post-pandemic recovery, had threatened its long term prospects. The country with Europe’s oldest population has risked leaving behind its youth, which is its greatest and rarest resource.<br />
<br />
While it is too early for reliable statistics, teachers, principals, advocates and social workers say they have seen a sharp increase in the number of students falling out of the system. Even those who stayed in are clearly falling behind.<br />
<br />
The problem is especially acute around the southern city of Naples. Schools here have remained closed longer than the rest of the country, in part because the president of the wider Campania region, Vincenzo De Luca, insisted they were a potential source of infection.
    CIPG_20210414_NYT_Italy-Dropouts_A73...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 14 APRIL 2021: Francesco Saturno, a 13 years old third grade student, posese for a portrait at his home in Ponticelli, a district in the outskirts of Naples, Italy, on April 14th 2021. Francesco spent his mornings helping in his grandfather’s fruit shop, sleeping in or glued to his Playstation. He only twice logged on to his online class. His mother, Angela Esposito, 33, who herself dropped out of high school, worried that he might leave school and follow in the footsteps of his father, who earns tips of loose change for babysitting parked cars in Naples. “I am scared that if he doesn’t go to school he is going to get lost,” she said. “And getting lost in Naples is dangerous.”<br />
<br />
Even before the coronavirus pandemic, Italy had among the highest dropout rates in the European Union. But over the last year it has kept its schools at least in part closed about three times longer than France, and more than Spain or Germany and just about all other member states, severing a lifeline for some of the most challenged children and fueling fears of an education crisis.<br />
<br />
Experts argued that by at least partially closing its schools for 35 weeks, Italy, already lagging behind the rest of Europe in key educational indicators and hoping for a strong post-pandemic recovery, had threatened its long term prospects. The country with Europe’s oldest population has risked leaving behind its youth, which is its greatest and rarest resource.<br />
<br />
While it is too early for reliable statistics, teachers, principals, advocates and social workers say they have seen a sharp increase in the number of students falling out of the system. Even those who stayed in are clearly falling behind.<br />
<br />
The problem is especially acute around the southern city of Naples. Schools here have remained closed longer than the rest of the country, in part because the president of the wider Campania region, Vincenzo De Luca, insisted they were a potential source of infection. At one point, h
    CIPG_20210414_NYT_Italy-Dropouts_A73...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 14 APRIL 2021: Francesco Saturno, a 13 years old third grade student, spends time on his smartphone on his bed, where he also sits to rarely attend online school classes, at home in Ponticelli, a district in the outskirts of Naples, Italy, on April 14th 2021. Francesco spent his mornings helping in his grandfather’s fruit shop, sleeping in or glued to his Playstation. He only twice logged on to his online class. His mother, Angela Esposito, 33, who herself dropped out of high school, worried that he might leave school and follow in the footsteps of his father, who earns tips of loose change for babysitting parked cars in Naples. “I am scared that if he doesn’t go to school he is going to get lost,” she said. “And getting lost in Naples is dangerous.”<br />
<br />
Even before the coronavirus pandemic, Italy had among the highest dropout rates in the European Union. But over the last year it has kept its schools at least in part closed about three times longer than France, and more than Spain or Germany and just about all other member states, severing a lifeline for some of the most challenged children and fueling fears of an education crisis.<br />
<br />
Experts argued that by at least partially closing its schools for 35 weeks, Italy, already lagging behind the rest of Europe in key educational indicators and hoping for a strong post-pandemic recovery, had threatened its long term prospects. The country with Europe’s oldest population has risked leaving behind its youth, which is its greatest and rarest resource.<br />
<br />
While it is too early for reliable statistics, teachers, principals, advocates and social workers say they have seen a sharp increase in the number of students falling out of the system. Even those who stayed in are clearly falling behind.<br />
<br />
The problem is especially acute around the southern city of Naples. Schools here have remained closed longer than the rest of the country, in part because the president of the wider Campania region, Vincenzo D
    CIPG_20210414_NYT_Italy-Dropouts_A73...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 14 APRIL 2021: Francesco Saturno, 1 13 years old third grade student, is seen here at the "Melissa Bassi" middle school in Ponticelli, a district in the outskirts of  Naples, Italy, on April 14th 2021. Over the past months, the school has organised workshop to get the local kids, who were most likely to not attend the online classes, come to school and build solid personal relationships with the teachers. Francesco Saturno spent his mornings helping in his grandfather’s fruit shop, sleeping in or glued to his Playstation. He only twice logged on to his online class. His mother, Angela Esposito, 33, who herself dropped out of high school, worried that he might leave school and follow in the footsteps of his father, who earns tips of loose change for babysitting parked cars in Naples. “I am scared that if he doesn’t go to school he is going to get lost,” she said. “And getting lost in Naples is dangerous.”<br />
<br />
Even before the coronavirus pandemic, Italy had among the highest dropout rates in the European Union. But over the last year it has kept its schools at least in part closed about three times longer than France, and more than Spain or Germany and just about all other member states, severing a lifeline for some of the most challenged children and fueling fears of an education crisis.<br />
<br />
Experts argued that by at least partially closing its schools for 35 weeks, Italy, already lagging behind the rest of Europe in key educational indicators and hoping for a strong post-pandemic recovery, had threatened its long term prospects. The country with Europe’s oldest population has risked leaving behind its youth, which is its greatest and rarest resource.<br />
<br />
While it is too early for reliable statistics, teachers, principals, advocates and social workers say they have seen a sharp increase in the number of students falling out of the system. Even those who stayed in are clearly falling behind.<br />
<br />
The problem is especially acute around the southern
    CIPG_20210414_NYT_Italy-Dropouts_A73...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 14 APRIL 2021: Giordano Francesco (16, right), who risks dropping out of school, poses for a portrait in Scampia, a district in the outskirts of Naples, Italy, on April 14th 2021. Giordano said he often fell asleep, grew bored and frustrated with the online classes he followed on his phone. He got into arguments with teachers because he often logged off to help his grandfather, who has Alzheimer’s disease, eat or use the bathroom. His mother, who left school at ten and lost her job as a theater cleaner during the pandemic, asked him to finish the school year. He said he would, and then drop out.<br />
<br />
Even before the coronavirus pandemic, Italy had among the highest dropout rates in the European Union. But over the last year it has kept its schools at least in part closed about three times longer than France, and more than Spain or Germany and just about all other member states, severing a lifeline for some of the most challenged children and fueling fears of an education crisis.<br />
<br />
Experts argued that by at least partially closing its schools for 35 weeks, Italy, already lagging behind the rest of Europe in key educational indicators and hoping for a strong post-pandemic recovery, had threatened its long term prospects. The country with Europe’s oldest population has risked leaving behind its youth, which is its greatest and rarest resource.<br />
<br />
While it is too early for reliable statistics, teachers, principals, advocates and social workers say they have seen a sharp increase in the number of students falling out of the system. Even those who stayed in are clearly falling behind.<br />
<br />
The problem is especially acute around the southern city of Naples. Schools here have remained closed longer than the rest of the country, in part because the president of the wider Campania region, Vincenzo De Luca, insisted they were a potential source of infection. At one point, he mocked the notion that children in his region were “crying to go to school.” Between Se
    CIPG_20210414_NYT_Italy-Dropouts_A73...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 14 APRIL 2021: A view of Scampia from the Melissa Bassi high school in Scampia, a district in the outskirts of Naples, Italy, on April 14th 2021. Teachers at the Melissa Bassi high school had made significant progress in getting local children into school through art projects, workshops and personal tutoring. The challenge is enormous as there is no phone reception in some of the neighborhood’s most neglected housing projects, children are often crammed with multiple family members into a few rooms, and are easily discouraged, teachers said.<br />
<br />
Even before the coronavirus pandemic, Italy had among the highest dropout rates in the European Union. But over the last year it has kept its schools at least in part closed about three times longer than France, and more than Spain or Germany and just about all other member states, severing a lifeline for some of the most challenged children and fueling fears of an education crisis.<br />
<br />
Experts argued that by at least partially closing its schools for 35 weeks, Italy, already lagging behind the rest of Europe in key educational indicators and hoping for a strong post-pandemic recovery, had threatened its long term prospects. The country with Europe’s oldest population has risked leaving behind its youth, which is its greatest and rarest resource.<br />
<br />
While it is too early for reliable statistics, teachers, principals, advocates and social workers say they have seen a sharp increase in the number of students falling out of the system. Even those who stayed in are clearly falling behind.<br />
<br />
The problem is especially acute around the southern city of Naples. Schools here have remained closed longer than the rest of the country, in part because the president of the wider Campania region, Vincenzo De Luca, insisted they were a potential source of infection. At one point, he mocked the notion that children in his region were “crying to go to school.” Between September and January, high school students in Naples onl
    CIPG_20210414_NYT_Italy-Dropouts_A73...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 14 APRIL 2021: A view of the gym with a banner saynig "La Scuola Per Napoli" (The school for Naples), is seen here at the "Melissa Bassi" high school in Scampia, a district in the outskirts of Naples, Italy, on April 14th 2021. Teachers at the Melissa Bassi high school had made significant progress in getting local children into school through art projects, workshops and personal tutoring. The challenge is enormous as there is no phone reception in some of the neighborhood’s most neglected housing projects, children are often crammed with multiple family members into a few rooms, and are easily discouraged, teachers said.<br />
<br />
Even before the coronavirus pandemic, Italy had among the highest dropout rates in the European Union. But over the last year it has kept its schools at least in part closed about three times longer than France, and more than Spain or Germany and just about all other member states, severing a lifeline for some of the most challenged children and fueling fears of an education crisis.<br />
<br />
Experts argued that by at least partially closing its schools for 35 weeks, Italy, already lagging behind the rest of Europe in key educational indicators and hoping for a strong post-pandemic recovery, had threatened its long term prospects. The country with Europe’s oldest population has risked leaving behind its youth, which is its greatest and rarest resource.<br />
<br />
While it is too early for reliable statistics, teachers, principals, advocates and social workers say they have seen a sharp increase in the number of students falling out of the system. Even those who stayed in are clearly falling behind.<br />
<br />
The problem is especially acute around the southern city of Naples. Schools here have remained closed longer than the rest of the country, in part because the president of the wider Campania region, Vincenzo De Luca, insisted they were a potential source of infection. At one point, he mocked the notion that children in his region were “crying to
    CIPG_20210414_NYT_Italy-Dropouts_A73...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 14 APRIL 2021: Francesco Saturno, a 13 years old third grade, is seen here at home in Ponticelli, a district in the outskirts of Naples, Italy, on April 14th 2021. Francesco spent his mornings helping in his grandfather’s fruit shop, sleeping in or glued to his Playstation. He only twice logged on to his online class. His mother, Angela Esposito, 33, who herself dropped out of high school, worried that he might leave school and follow in the footsteps of his father, who earns tips of loose change for babysitting parked cars in Naples. “I am scared that if he doesn’t go to school he is going to get lost,” she said. “And getting lost in Naples is dangerous.”<br />
<br />
Even before the coronavirus pandemic, Italy had among the highest dropout rates in the European Union. But over the last year it has kept its schools at least in part closed about three times longer than France, and more than Spain or Germany and just about all other member states, severing a lifeline for some of the most challenged children and fueling fears of an education crisis.<br />
<br />
Experts argued that by at least partially closing its schools for 35 weeks, Italy, already lagging behind the rest of Europe in key educational indicators and hoping for a strong post-pandemic recovery, had threatened its long term prospects. The country with Europe’s oldest population has risked leaving behind its youth, which is its greatest and rarest resource.<br />
<br />
While it is too early for reliable statistics, teachers, principals, advocates and social workers say they have seen a sharp increase in the number of students falling out of the system. Even those who stayed in are clearly falling behind.<br />
<br />
The problem is especially acute around the southern city of Naples. Schools here have remained closed longer than the rest of the country, in part because the president of the wider Campania region, Vincenzo De Luca, insisted they were a potential source of infection. At one point, he mocked the notion t
    CIPG_20210414_NYT_Italy-Dropouts_A73...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 14 APRIL 2021: Francesco Uccello (48), an Italian teacher, poses for a potrait at the "Melissa Bassi" middle school in Ponticelli, a district in the outskirts of  Naples, Italy, on April 14th 2021. “Here parents have a hard time considering school as something important in life,” he said, “The kids don’t have anyone telling them to wake up for class.”  Over the past months, the school has also organised workshop to get the local kids, who were most likely to not attend the online classes, come to school and build solid personal relationships with the teachers. <br />
<br />
Even before the coronavirus pandemic, Italy had among the highest dropout rates in the European Union. But over the last year it has kept its schools at least in part closed about three times longer than France, and more than Spain or Germany and just about all other member states, severing a lifeline for some of the most challenged children and fueling fears of an education crisis.<br />
<br />
Experts argued that by at least partially closing its schools for 35 weeks, Italy, already lagging behind the rest of Europe in key educational indicators and hoping for a strong post-pandemic recovery, had threatened its long term prospects. The country with Europe’s oldest population has risked leaving behind its youth, which is its greatest and rarest resource.<br />
<br />
While it is too early for reliable statistics, teachers, principals, advocates and social workers say they have seen a sharp increase in the number of students falling out of the system. Even those who stayed in are clearly falling behind.<br />
<br />
The problem is especially acute around the southern city of Naples. Schools here have remained closed longer than the rest of the country, in part because the president of the wider Campania region, Vincenzo De Luca, insisted they were a potential source of infection. At one point, he mocked the notion that children in his region were “crying to go to school.” Between September and January, high s
    CIPG_20210414_NYT_Italy-Dropouts_A73...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 14 APRIL 2021: Francesco Uccello (48), an Italian teacher, poses for a potrait at the "Melissa Bassi" middle school in Ponticelli, a district in the outskirts of  Naples, Italy, on April 14th 2021. “Here parents have a hard time considering school as something important in life,” he said, “The kids don’t have anyone telling them to wake up for class.”  Over the past months, the school has also organised workshop to get the local kids, who were most likely to not attend the online classes, come to school and build solid personal relationships with the teachers. <br />
<br />
Even before the coronavirus pandemic, Italy had among the highest dropout rates in the European Union. But over the last year it has kept its schools at least in part closed about three times longer than France, and more than Spain or Germany and just about all other member states, severing a lifeline for some of the most challenged children and fueling fears of an education crisis.<br />
<br />
Experts argued that by at least partially closing its schools for 35 weeks, Italy, already lagging behind the rest of Europe in key educational indicators and hoping for a strong post-pandemic recovery, had threatened its long term prospects. The country with Europe’s oldest population has risked leaving behind its youth, which is its greatest and rarest resource.<br />
<br />
While it is too early for reliable statistics, teachers, principals, advocates and social workers say they have seen a sharp increase in the number of students falling out of the system. Even those who stayed in are clearly falling behind.<br />
<br />
The problem is especially acute around the southern city of Naples. Schools here have remained closed longer than the rest of the country, in part because the president of the wider Campania region, Vincenzo De Luca, insisted they were a potential source of infection. At one point, he mocked the notion that children in his region were “crying to go to school.” Between September and January, high s
    CIPG_20210414_NYT_Italy-Dropouts_A73...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 14 APRIL 2021: Francesco Uccello (48), an Italian teacher, poses for a potrait at the "Melissa Bassi" middle school in Ponticelli, a district in the outskirts of  Naples, Italy, on April 14th 2021. “Here parents have a hard time considering school as something important in life,” he said, “The kids don’t have anyone telling them to wake up for class.”  Over the past months, the school has also organised workshop to get the local kids, who were most likely to not attend the online classes, come to school and build solid personal relationships with the teachers. <br />
<br />
Even before the coronavirus pandemic, Italy had among the highest dropout rates in the European Union. But over the last year it has kept its schools at least in part closed about three times longer than France, and more than Spain or Germany and just about all other member states, severing a lifeline for some of the most challenged children and fueling fears of an education crisis.<br />
<br />
Experts argued that by at least partially closing its schools for 35 weeks, Italy, already lagging behind the rest of Europe in key educational indicators and hoping for a strong post-pandemic recovery, had threatened its long term prospects. The country with Europe’s oldest population has risked leaving behind its youth, which is its greatest and rarest resource.<br />
<br />
While it is too early for reliable statistics, teachers, principals, advocates and social workers say they have seen a sharp increase in the number of students falling out of the system. Even those who stayed in are clearly falling behind.<br />
<br />
The problem is especially acute around the southern city of Naples. Schools here have remained closed longer than the rest of the country, in part because the president of the wider Campania region, Vincenzo De Luca, insisted they were a potential source of infection. At one point, he mocked the notion that children in his region were “crying to go to school.” Between September and January, high s
    CIPG_20210414_NYT_Italy-Dropouts_A73...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 14 APRIL 2021: Francesco Uccello (48), an Italian teacher, is seen here teaching an online class to his third grade students at the "Melissa Bassi" middle school in Ponticelli, a district in the outskirts of  Naples, Italy, on April 14th 2021. “Here parents have a hard time considering school as something important in life,” he said, “The kids don’t have anyone telling them to wake up for class.”  Over the past months, the school has also organised workshop to get the local kids, who were most likely to not attend the online classes, come to school and build solid personal relationships with the teachers. <br />
<br />
Even before the coronavirus pandemic, Italy had among the highest dropout rates in the European Union. But over the last year it has kept its schools at least in part closed about three times longer than France, and more than Spain or Germany and just about all other member states, severing a lifeline for some of the most challenged children and fueling fears of an education crisis.<br />
<br />
Experts argued that by at least partially closing its schools for 35 weeks, Italy, already lagging behind the rest of Europe in key educational indicators and hoping for a strong post-pandemic recovery, had threatened its long term prospects. The country with Europe’s oldest population has risked leaving behind its youth, which is its greatest and rarest resource.<br />
<br />
While it is too early for reliable statistics, teachers, principals, advocates and social workers say they have seen a sharp increase in the number of students falling out of the system. Even those who stayed in are clearly falling behind.<br />
<br />
The problem is especially acute around the southern city of Naples. Schools here have remained closed longer than the rest of the country, in part because the president of the wider Campania region, Vincenzo De Luca, insisted they were a potential source of infection. At one point, he mocked the notion that children in his region were “crying to go to sc
    CIPG_20210414_NYT_Italy-Dropouts_A73...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 14 APRIL 2021: Francesco Uccello (48), an Italian teacher, is seen here teaching an online class to his third grade students at the "Melissa Bassi" middle school in Ponticelli, a district in the outskirts of  Naples, Italy, on April 14th 2021. “Here parents have a hard time considering school as something important in life,” he said, “The kids don’t have anyone telling them to wake up for class.”  Over the past months, the school has also organised workshop to get the local kids, who were most likely to not attend the online classes, come to school and build solid personal relationships with the teachers. <br />
<br />
Even before the coronavirus pandemic, Italy had among the highest dropout rates in the European Union. But over the last year it has kept its schools at least in part closed about three times longer than France, and more than Spain or Germany and just about all other member states, severing a lifeline for some of the most challenged children and fueling fears of an education crisis.<br />
<br />
Experts argued that by at least partially closing its schools for 35 weeks, Italy, already lagging behind the rest of Europe in key educational indicators and hoping for a strong post-pandemic recovery, had threatened its long term prospects. The country with Europe’s oldest population has risked leaving behind its youth, which is its greatest and rarest resource.<br />
<br />
While it is too early for reliable statistics, teachers, principals, advocates and social workers say they have seen a sharp increase in the number of students falling out of the system. Even those who stayed in are clearly falling behind.<br />
<br />
The problem is especially acute around the southern city of Naples. Schools here have remained closed longer than the rest of the country, in part because the president of the wider Campania region, Vincenzo De Luca, insisted they were a potential source of infection. At one point, he mocked the notion that children in his region were “crying to go to sc
    CIPG_20210414_NYT_Italy-Dropouts_A73...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 14 APRIL 2021: Domenico Mazzella Di Bosco (57), principal of the "Melissa Bassi" high school, walks up the stairs of the school in Scampia, a district in the outskirts of Naples, Italy, on April 14th 2021. Teachers at the Melissa Bassi high school had made significant progress in getting local children into school through art projects, workshops and personal tutoring. The challenge is enormous as there is no phone reception in some of the neighborhood’s most neglected housing projects, children are often crammed with multiple family members into a few rooms, and are easily discouraged, teachers said.<br />
<br />
Even before the coronavirus pandemic, Italy had among the highest dropout rates in the European Union. But over the last year it has kept its schools at least in part closed about three times longer than France, and more than Spain or Germany and just about all other member states, severing a lifeline for some of the most challenged children and fueling fears of an education crisis.<br />
<br />
Experts argued that by at least partially closing its schools for 35 weeks, Italy, already lagging behind the rest of Europe in key educational indicators and hoping for a strong post-pandemic recovery, had threatened its long term prospects. The country with Europe’s oldest population has risked leaving behind its youth, which is its greatest and rarest resource.<br />
<br />
While it is too early for reliable statistics, teachers, principals, advocates and social workers say they have seen a sharp increase in the number of students falling out of the system. Even those who stayed in are clearly falling behind.<br />
<br />
The problem is especially acute around the southern city of Naples. Schools here have remained closed longer than the rest of the country, in part because the president of the wider Campania region, Vincenzo De Luca, insisted they were a potential source of infection. At one point, he mocked the notion that children in his region were “crying to go to school.” Betwe
    CIPG_20210414_NYT_Italy-Dropouts_A73...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 14 APRIL 2021: Dora Leva (36), mother of third grade student Emanuela, is seen here at the "Melissa Bassi" middle school in Ponticelli, a district in the outskirts of  Naples, Italy, on April 14th 2021.  “Here parents have a hard time considering school as something important in life,” Francesco Uccello, an Italian teacher at the school, said. “The kids don’t have anyone telling them to wake up for class.” <br />
Over the past months, the school has organised workshop to get the local kids, who were most likely to not attend the online classes, come to school and build solid personal relationships with the teachers. <br />
<br />
Even before the coronavirus pandemic, Italy had among the highest dropout rates in the European Union. But over the last year it has kept its schools at least in part closed about three times longer than France, and more than Spain or Germany and just about all other member states, severing a lifeline for some of the most challenged children and fueling fears of an education crisis.<br />
<br />
Experts argued that by at least partially closing its schools for 35 weeks, Italy, already lagging behind the rest of Europe in key educational indicators and hoping for a strong post-pandemic recovery, had threatened its long term prospects. The country with Europe’s oldest population has risked leaving behind its youth, which is its greatest and rarest resource.<br />
<br />
While it is too early for reliable statistics, teachers, principals, advocates and social workers say they have seen a sharp increase in the number of students falling out of the system. Even those who stayed in are clearly falling behind.<br />
<br />
The problem is especially acute around the southern city of Naples. Schools here have remained closed longer than the rest of the country, in part because the president of the wider Campania region, Vincenzo De Luca, insisted they were a potential source of infection. At one point, he mocked the notion that children in his region were “crying to go
    CIPG_20210414_NYT_Italy-Dropouts_A73...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 14 APRIL 2021: Francesco Uccello (48), an Italian teacher, is seen here teaching an online class to his third grade students at the "Melissa Bassi" middle school in Ponticelli, a district in the outskirts of  Naples, Italy, on April 14th 2021. “Here parents have a hard time considering school as something important in life,” he said, “The kids don’t have anyone telling them to wake up for class.”  Over the past months, the school has also organised workshop to get the local kids, who were most likely to not attend the online classes, come to school and build solid personal relationships with the teachers. <br />
<br />
Even before the coronavirus pandemic, Italy had among the highest dropout rates in the European Union. But over the last year it has kept its schools at least in part closed about three times longer than France, and more than Spain or Germany and just about all other member states, severing a lifeline for some of the most challenged children and fueling fears of an education crisis.<br />
<br />
Experts argued that by at least partially closing its schools for 35 weeks, Italy, already lagging behind the rest of Europe in key educational indicators and hoping for a strong post-pandemic recovery, had threatened its long term prospects. The country with Europe’s oldest population has risked leaving behind its youth, which is its greatest and rarest resource.<br />
<br />
While it is too early for reliable statistics, teachers, principals, advocates and social workers say they have seen a sharp increase in the number of students falling out of the system. Even those who stayed in are clearly falling behind.<br />
<br />
The problem is especially acute around the southern city of Naples. Schools here have remained closed longer than the rest of the country, in part because the president of the wider Campania region, Vincenzo De Luca, insisted they were a potential source of infection. At one point, he mocked the notion that children in his region were “crying to go to sc
    CIPG_20210414_NYT_Italy-Dropouts_A73...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 14 APRIL 2021: An interoir view of the  "Melissa Bassi" high school in Scampia, a district in the outskirts of Naples, Italy, on April 14th 2021. Teachers at the Melissa Bassi high school had made significant progress in getting local children into school through art projects, workshops and personal tutoring. The challenge is enormous as there is no phone reception in some of the neighborhood’s most neglected housing projects, children are often crammed with multiple family members into a few rooms, and are easily discouraged, teachers said.<br />
<br />
Even before the coronavirus pandemic, Italy had among the highest dropout rates in the European Union. But over the last year it has kept its schools at least in part closed about three times longer than France, and more than Spain or Germany and just about all other member states, severing a lifeline for some of the most challenged children and fueling fears of an education crisis.<br />
<br />
Experts argued that by at least partially closing its schools for 35 weeks, Italy, already lagging behind the rest of Europe in key educational indicators and hoping for a strong post-pandemic recovery, had threatened its long term prospects. The country with Europe’s oldest population has risked leaving behind its youth, which is its greatest and rarest resource.<br />
<br />
While it is too early for reliable statistics, teachers, principals, advocates and social workers say they have seen a sharp increase in the number of students falling out of the system. Even those who stayed in are clearly falling behind.<br />
<br />
The problem is especially acute around the southern city of Naples. Schools here have remained closed longer than the rest of the country, in part because the president of the wider Campania region, Vincenzo De Luca, insisted they were a potential source of infection. At one point, he mocked the notion that children in his region were “crying to go to school.” Between September and January, high school students in Naples onl
    CIPG_20210414_NYT_Italy-Dropouts_A73...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 14 APRIL 2021: Francesco Uccello (48), an Italian teacher, is seen here at the "Melissa Bassi" middle school in Ponticelli, a district in the outskirts of  Naples, Italy, on April 14th 2021. “Here parents have a hard time considering school as something important in life,” he said, “The kids don’t have anyone telling them to wake up for class.”  Over the past months, the school has also organised workshop to get the local kids, who were most likely to not attend the online classes, come to school and build solid personal relationships with the teachers.<br />
Even before the coronavirus pandemic, Italy had among the highest dropout rates in the European Union. But over the last year it has kept its schools at least in part closed about three times longer than France, and more than Spain or Germany and just about all other member states, severing a lifeline for some of the most challenged children and fueling fears of an education crisis.<br />
<br />
Experts argued that by at least partially closing its schools for 35 weeks, Italy, already lagging behind the rest of Europe in key educational indicators and hoping for a strong post-pandemic recovery, had threatened its long term prospects. The country with Europe’s oldest population has risked leaving behind its youth, which is its greatest and rarest resource.<br />
<br />
While it is too early for reliable statistics, teachers, principals, advocates and social workers say they have seen a sharp increase in the number of students falling out of the system. Even those who stayed in are clearly falling behind.<br />
<br />
The problem is especially acute around the southern city of Naples. Schools here have remained closed longer than the rest of the country, in part because the president of the wider Campania region, Vincenzo De Luca, insisted they were a potential source of infection. At one point, he mocked the notion that children in his region were “crying to go to school.” Between September and January, high school stu
    CIPG_20210414_NYT_Italy-Dropouts_A73...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 14 APRIL 2021: Francesco Saturno, a 13 years old third grade student, posese for a portrait at his home in Ponticelli, a district in the outskirts of Naples, Italy, on April 14th 2021. Francesco spent his mornings helping in his grandfather’s fruit shop, sleeping in or glued to his Playstation. He only twice logged on to his online class. His mother, Angela Esposito, 33, who herself dropped out of high school, worried that he might leave school and follow in the footsteps of his father, who earns tips of loose change for babysitting parked cars in Naples. “I am scared that if he doesn’t go to school he is going to get lost,” she said. “And getting lost in Naples is dangerous.”<br />
<br />
Even before the coronavirus pandemic, Italy had among the highest dropout rates in the European Union. But over the last year it has kept its schools at least in part closed about three times longer than France, and more than Spain or Germany and just about all other member states, severing a lifeline for some of the most challenged children and fueling fears of an education crisis.<br />
<br />
Experts argued that by at least partially closing its schools for 35 weeks, Italy, already lagging behind the rest of Europe in key educational indicators and hoping for a strong post-pandemic recovery, had threatened its long term prospects. The country with Europe’s oldest population has risked leaving behind its youth, which is its greatest and rarest resource.<br />
<br />
While it is too early for reliable statistics, teachers, principals, advocates and social workers say they have seen a sharp increase in the number of students falling out of the system. Even those who stayed in are clearly falling behind.<br />
<br />
The problem is especially acute around the southern city of Naples. Schools here have remained closed longer than the rest of the country, in part because the president of the wider Campania region, Vincenzo De Luca, insisted they were a potential source of infection. At one point, h
    CIPG_20210414_NYT_Italy-Dropouts_A73...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 14 APRIL 2021: Third grade students are seen here glued at their smartphones during a class at the "Melissa Bassi" middle school in Ponticelli, a district in the outskirts of  Naples, Italy, on April 14th 2021. Over the past months, the school has organised workshop to get the local kids, who were most likely to not attend the online classes, come to school and build solid personal relationships with the teachers. <br />
<br />
Even before the coronavirus pandemic, Italy had among the highest dropout rates in the European Union. But over the last year it has kept its schools at least in part closed about three times longer than France, and more than Spain or Germany and just about all other member states, severing a lifeline for some of the most challenged children and fueling fears of an education crisis.<br />
<br />
Experts argued that by at least partially closing its schools for 35 weeks, Italy, already lagging behind the rest of Europe in key educational indicators and hoping for a strong post-pandemic recovery, had threatened its long term prospects. The country with Europe’s oldest population has risked leaving behind its youth, which is its greatest and rarest resource.<br />
<br />
While it is too early for reliable statistics, teachers, principals, advocates and social workers say they have seen a sharp increase in the number of students falling out of the system. Even those who stayed in are clearly falling behind.<br />
<br />
The problem is especially acute around the southern city of Naples. Schools here have remained closed longer than the rest of the country, in part because the president of the wider Campania region, Vincenzo De Luca, insisted they were a potential source of infection. At one point, he mocked the notion that children in his region were “crying to go to school.” Between September and January, high school students in Naples only physically went to school for 27 days, according to the humanitarian organization Save the Children, a national low. In Naples, t
    CIPG_20210414_NYT_Italy-Dropouts_A73...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 16 MARCH 2018: Founder and President of "Il Tappeto di Iqbal" Giovanni Savino (38, center) talks to a teenager who missed school and a potential school-dropout, while  Vice-President Marco Riccio (25, left) listens to the conversation, here at "Il Tappeto di Iqbal" (Iqbal's carpet), a non-profit cooperative in Barra, the estern district of Naples, Italy, on March 16th 2018.<br />
<br />
Il Tappeto di Iqbal (Iqbal’s Carpet) is a non-profit cooperative founded in 2015 and Save The Children partner since 2015 that operates in the Naple’s eastern neighborhood of Barra children in the arts of circus, theater and parkour. It was named after Iqbal Masih, a Pakistani boy who escaped from life as a child slave and became an activist against bonded labor in the 1990s.<br />
Barra, which is home to some 45,000 people, has the highest rate of school dropouts in the Italian region of Campania. Once a thriving industrial community, many of the factories were destroyed in a 1980 earthquake and never rebuilt. The resulting de-industrialization turned Barra into a poor, decaying neighborhood. There are no cinemas, theaters, parks or public spaces in Barra.<br />
The vast majority of children from poor families are faced with the choice of working in the black economy or joining the ranks of the organised crime.<br />
Recently, Save the Children Italy opened a number of educational and social spaces in Barra. The centers, known as Punti Luce, or points of light, aim to help local kids stay out of the ranks of the organised crime and have also become hubs for Iqbal's Carpet to work.
    CIPG_20180316_CAUSETTE_NapoliBarra_M...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 16 MARCH 2018: Founder and President of "Il Tappeto di Iqbal" Giovanni Savino (38, center) looks at a teenager who missed school and a potential school-dropout as he walks away,  here at "Il Tappeto di Iqbal" (Iqbal's carpet), a non-profit cooperative in Barra, the estern district of Naples, Italy, on March 16th 2018.<br />
<br />
Il Tappeto di Iqbal (Iqbal’s Carpet) is a non-profit cooperative founded in 2015 and Save The Children partner since 2015 that operates in the Naple’s eastern neighborhood of Barra children in the arts of circus, theater and parkour. It was named after Iqbal Masih, a Pakistani boy who escaped from life as a child slave and became an activist against bonded labor in the 1990s.<br />
Barra, which is home to some 45,000 people, has the highest rate of school dropouts in the Italian region of Campania. Once a thriving industrial community, many of the factories were destroyed in a 1980 earthquake and never rebuilt. The resulting de-industrialization turned Barra into a poor, decaying neighborhood. There are no cinemas, theaters, parks or public spaces in Barra.<br />
The vast majority of children from poor families are faced with the choice of working in the black economy or joining the ranks of the organised crime.<br />
Recently, Save the Children Italy opened a number of educational and social spaces in Barra. The centers, known as Punti Luce, or points of light, aim to help local kids stay out of the ranks of the organised crime and have also become hubs for Iqbal's Carpet to work.
    CIPG_20180316_CAUSETTE_NapoliBarra_M...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 16 MARCH 2018: Abstract paintings made by children during their after-school activity are seen here at "Il Tappeto di Iqbal" (Iqbal's carpet), a non-profit cooperative in Barra, the estern district of Naples, Italy, on March 16th 2018.<br />
<br />
Il Tappeto di Iqbal (Iqbal’s Carpet) is a non-profit cooperative founded in 2015 and Save The Children partner since 2015 that operates in the Naple’s eastern neighborhood of Barra children in the arts of circus, theater and parkour. It was named after Iqbal Masih, a Pakistani boy who escaped from life as a child slave and became an activist against bonded labor in the 1990s.<br />
Barra, which is home to some 45,000 people, has the highest rate of school dropouts in the Italian region of Campania. Once a thriving industrial community, many of the factories were destroyed in a 1980 earthquake and never rebuilt. The resulting de-industrialization turned Barra into a poor, decaying neighborhood. There are no cinemas, theaters, parks or public spaces in Barra.<br />
The vast majority of children from poor families are faced with the choice of working in the black economy or joining the ranks of the organised crime.<br />
Recently, Save the Children Italy opened a number of educational and social spaces in Barra. The centers, known as Punti Luce, or points of light, aim to help local kids stay out of the ranks of the organised crime and have also become hubs for Iqbal's Carpet to work.
    CIPG_20180316_CAUSETTE_NapoliBarra_M...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 16 MARCH 2018: Elementary school children are seen after their after-school activity at "Il Tappeto di Iqbal" (Iqbal's carpet), a non-profit cooperative in Barra, the estern district of Naples, Italy, on March 16th 2018.<br />
<br />
Il Tappeto di Iqbal (Iqbal’s Carpet) is a non-profit cooperative founded in 2015 and Save The Children partner since 2015 that operates in the Naple’s eastern neighborhood of Barra children in the arts of circus, theater and parkour. It was named after Iqbal Masih, a Pakistani boy who escaped from life as a child slave and became an activist against bonded labor in the 1990s.<br />
Barra, which is home to some 45,000 people, has the highest rate of school dropouts in the Italian region of Campania. Once a thriving industrial community, many of the factories were destroyed in a 1980 earthquake and never rebuilt. The resulting de-industrialization turned Barra into a poor, decaying neighborhood. There are no cinemas, theaters, parks or public spaces in Barra.<br />
The vast majority of children from poor families are faced with the choice of working in the black economy or joining the ranks of the organised crime.<br />
Recently, Save the Children Italy opened a number of educational and social spaces in Barra. The centers, known as Punti Luce, or points of light, aim to help local kids stay out of the ranks of the organised crime and have also become hubs for Iqbal's Carpet to work.
    CIPG_20180316_CAUSETTE_NapoliBarra_M...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 16 MARCH 2018: Aerial Dance instructor Caterina Spezzaferri (29) teaches aerial dance to teenagers at "Il Tappeto di Iqbal" (Iqbal's carpet), a non-profit cooperative in Barra, the estern district of Naples, Italy, on March 16th 2018.<br />
<br />
Il Tappeto di Iqbal (Iqbal’s Carpet) is a non-profit cooperative founded in 2015 and Save The Children partner since 2015 that operates in the Naple’s eastern neighborhood of Barra children in the arts of circus, theater and parkour. It was named after Iqbal Masih, a Pakistani boy who escaped from life as a child slave and became an activist against bonded labor in the 1990s.<br />
Barra, which is home to some 45,000 people, has the highest rate of school dropouts in the Italian region of Campania. Once a thriving industrial community, many of the factories were destroyed in a 1980 earthquake and never rebuilt. The resulting de-industrialization turned Barra into a poor, decaying neighborhood. There are no cinemas, theaters, parks or public spaces in Barra.<br />
The vast majority of children from poor families are faced with the choice of working in the black economy or joining the ranks of the organised crime.<br />
Recently, Save the Children Italy opened a number of educational and social spaces in Barra. The centers, known as Punti Luce, or points of light, aim to help local kids stay out of the ranks of the organised crime and have also become hubs for Iqbal's Carpet to work.
    CIPG_20180316_CAUSETTE_NapoliBarra_M...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 16 MARCH 2018: Vice-President of "Il Tappeto di Iqbal" Marco Riccio (25) juggles with a teenagers during the circus activity at "Il Tappeto di Iqbal" (Iqbal's carpet), a non-profit cooperative in Barra, the estern district of Naples, Italy, on March 16th 2018.<br />
<br />
Il Tappeto di Iqbal (Iqbal’s Carpet) is a non-profit cooperative founded in 2015 and Save The Children partner since 2015 that operates in the Naple’s eastern neighborhood of Barra children in the arts of circus, theater and parkour. It was named after Iqbal Masih, a Pakistani boy who escaped from life as a child slave and became an activist against bonded labor in the 1990s.<br />
Barra, which is home to some 45,000 people, has the highest rate of school dropouts in the Italian region of Campania. Once a thriving industrial community, many of the factories were destroyed in a 1980 earthquake and never rebuilt. The resulting de-industrialization turned Barra into a poor, decaying neighborhood. There are no cinemas, theaters, parks or public spaces in Barra.<br />
The vast majority of children from poor families are faced with the choice of working in the black economy or joining the ranks of the organised crime.<br />
Recently, Save the Children Italy opened a number of educational and social spaces in Barra. The centers, known as Punti Luce, or points of light, aim to help local kids stay out of the ranks of the organised crime and have also become hubs for Iqbal's Carpet to work.
    CIPG_20180316_CAUSETTE_NapoliBarra_M...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 16 MARCH 2018: Teenagers followed by their instructors walk out of the gym after practicing parkour at "Il Tappeto di Iqbal" (Iqbal's carpet), a non-profit cooperative in Barra, the estern district of Naples, Italy, on March 16th 2018.<br />
<br />
Il Tappeto di Iqbal (Iqbal’s Carpet) is a non-profit cooperative founded in 2015 and Save The Children partner since 2015 that operates in the Naple’s eastern neighborhood of Barra children in the arts of circus, theater and parkour. It was named after Iqbal Masih, a Pakistani boy who escaped from life as a child slave and became an activist against bonded labor in the 1990s.<br />
Barra, which is home to some 45,000 people, has the highest rate of school dropouts in the Italian region of Campania. Once a thriving industrial community, many of the factories were destroyed in a 1980 earthquake and never rebuilt. The resulting de-industrialization turned Barra into a poor, decaying neighborhood. There are no cinemas, theaters, parks or public spaces in Barra.<br />
The vast majority of children from poor families are faced with the choice of working in the black economy or joining the ranks of the organised crime.<br />
Recently, Save the Children Italy opened a number of educational and social spaces in Barra. The centers, known as Punti Luce, or points of light, aim to help local kids stay out of the ranks of the organised crime and have also become hubs for Iqbal's Carpet to work.
    CIPG_20180316_CAUSETTE_NapoliBarra_M...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 16 MARCH 2018: Angela Cuccaro (19) is seen here as she performs aerial dance at "Il Tappeto di Iqbal" (Iqbal's carpet), a non-profit cooperative in Barra, the estern district of Naples, Italy, on March 16th 2018.<br />
<br />
Il Tappeto di Iqbal (Iqbal’s Carpet) is a non-profit cooperative founded in 2015 and Save The Children partner since 2015 that operates in the Naple’s eastern neighborhood of Barra children in the arts of circus, theater and parkour. It was named after Iqbal Masih, a Pakistani boy who escaped from life as a child slave and became an activist against bonded labor in the 1990s.<br />
Barra, which is home to some 45,000 people, has the highest rate of school dropouts in the Italian region of Campania. Once a thriving industrial community, many of the factories were destroyed in a 1980 earthquake and never rebuilt. The resulting de-industrialization turned Barra into a poor, decaying neighborhood. There are no cinemas, theaters, parks or public spaces in Barra.<br />
The vast majority of children from poor families are faced with the choice of working in the black economy or joining the ranks of the organised crime.<br />
Recently, Save the Children Italy opened a number of educational and social spaces in Barra. The centers, known as Punti Luce, or points of light, aim to help local kids stay out of the ranks of the organised crime and have also become hubs for Iqbal's Carpet to work.
    CIPG_20180316_CAUSETTE_NapoliBarra_M...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 16 MARCH 2018: Teenagers standing on stilts are seen here during the circus activity at "Il Tappeto di Iqbal" (Iqbal's carpet), a non-profit cooperative in Barra, the estern district of Naples, Italy, on March 16th 2018.<br />
<br />
Il Tappeto di Iqbal (Iqbal’s Carpet) is a non-profit cooperative founded in 2015 and Save The Children partner since 2015 that operates in the Naple’s eastern neighborhood of Barra children in the arts of circus, theater and parkour. It was named after Iqbal Masih, a Pakistani boy who escaped from life as a child slave and became an activist against bonded labor in the 1990s.<br />
Barra, which is home to some 45,000 people, has the highest rate of school dropouts in the Italian region of Campania. Once a thriving industrial community, many of the factories were destroyed in a 1980 earthquake and never rebuilt. The resulting de-industrialization turned Barra into a poor, decaying neighborhood. There are no cinemas, theaters, parks or public spaces in Barra.<br />
The vast majority of children from poor families are faced with the choice of working in the black economy or joining the ranks of the organised crime.<br />
Recently, Save the Children Italy opened a number of educational and social spaces in Barra. The centers, known as Punti Luce, or points of light, aim to help local kids stay out of the ranks of the organised crime and have also become hubs for Iqbal's Carpet to work.
    CIPG_20180316_CAUSETTE_NapoliBarra_M...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 16 MARCH 2018: Vice-President of "Il Tappeto di Iqbal" Marco Riccio (25) juggles with a teenager during the circus activity at "Il Tappeto di Iqbal" (Iqbal's carpet), a non-profit cooperative in Barra, the estern district of Naples, Italy, on March 16th 2018.<br />
<br />
Il Tappeto di Iqbal (Iqbal’s Carpet) is a non-profit cooperative founded in 2015 and Save The Children partner since 2015 that operates in the Naple’s eastern neighborhood of Barra children in the arts of circus, theater and parkour. It was named after Iqbal Masih, a Pakistani boy who escaped from life as a child slave and became an activist against bonded labor in the 1990s.<br />
Barra, which is home to some 45,000 people, has the highest rate of school dropouts in the Italian region of Campania. Once a thriving industrial community, many of the factories were destroyed in a 1980 earthquake and never rebuilt. The resulting de-industrialization turned Barra into a poor, decaying neighborhood. There are no cinemas, theaters, parks or public spaces in Barra.<br />
The vast majority of children from poor families are faced with the choice of working in the black economy or joining the ranks of the organised crime.<br />
Recently, Save the Children Italy opened a number of educational and social spaces in Barra. The centers, known as Punti Luce, or points of light, aim to help local kids stay out of the ranks of the organised crime and have also become hubs for Iqbal's Carpet to work.
    CIPG_20180316_CAUSETTE_NapoliBarra_M...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 16 MARCH 2018: Founder and President of "Il Tappeto di Iqbal" Giovanni Savino (38) is seen here with elementary school children during after-school activity at "Il Tappeto di Iqbal" (Iqbal's carpet), a non-profit cooperative in Barra, the estern district of Naples, Italy, on March 16th 2018.<br />
<br />
Il Tappeto di Iqbal (Iqbal’s Carpet) is a non-profit cooperative founded in 2015 and Save The Children partner since 2015 that operates in the Naple’s eastern neighborhood of Barra children in the arts of circus, theater and parkour. It was named after Iqbal Masih, a Pakistani boy who escaped from life as a child slave and became an activist against bonded labor in the 1990s.<br />
Barra, which is home to some 45,000 people, has the highest rate of school dropouts in the Italian region of Campania. Once a thriving industrial community, many of the factories were destroyed in a 1980 earthquake and never rebuilt. The resulting de-industrialization turned Barra into a poor, decaying neighborhood. There are no cinemas, theaters, parks or public spaces in Barra.<br />
The vast majority of children from poor families are faced with the choice of working in the black economy or joining the ranks of the organised crime.<br />
Recently, Save the Children Italy opened a number of educational and social spaces in Barra. The centers, known as Punti Luce, or points of light, aim to help local kids stay out of the ranks of the organised crime and have also become hubs for Iqbal's Carpet to work.
    CIPG_20180316_CAUSETTE_NapoliBarra_M...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 16 MARCH 2018: Teenagers practice parkour at "Il Tappeto di Iqbal" (Iqbal's carpet), a non-profit cooperative in Barra, the estern district of Naples, Italy, on March 16th 2018.<br />
<br />
Il Tappeto di Iqbal (Iqbal’s Carpet) is a non-profit cooperative founded in 2015 and Save The Children partner since 2015 that operates in the Naple’s eastern neighborhood of Barra children in the arts of circus, theater and parkour. It was named after Iqbal Masih, a Pakistani boy who escaped from life as a child slave and became an activist against bonded labor in the 1990s.<br />
Barra, which is home to some 45,000 people, has the highest rate of school dropouts in the Italian region of Campania. Once a thriving industrial community, many of the factories were destroyed in a 1980 earthquake and never rebuilt. The resulting de-industrialization turned Barra into a poor, decaying neighborhood. There are no cinemas, theaters, parks or public spaces in Barra.<br />
The vast majority of children from poor families are faced with the choice of working in the black economy or joining the ranks of the organised crime.<br />
Recently, Save the Children Italy opened a number of educational and social spaces in Barra. The centers, known as Punti Luce, or points of light, aim to help local kids stay out of the ranks of the organised crime and have also become hubs for Iqbal's Carpet to work.
    CIPG_20180316_CAUSETTE_NapoliBarra_M...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 16 MARCH 2018: Vault horses are seen here in the gym of "Il Tappeto di Iqbal" (Iqbal's carpet), a non-profit cooperative in Barra, the estern district of Naples, Italy, on March 16th 2018.<br />
<br />
Il Tappeto di Iqbal (Iqbal’s Carpet) is a non-profit cooperative founded in 2015 and Save The Children partner since 2015 that operates in the Naple’s eastern neighborhood of Barra children in the arts of circus, theater and parkour. It was named after Iqbal Masih, a Pakistani boy who escaped from life as a child slave and became an activist against bonded labor in the 1990s.<br />
Barra, which is home to some 45,000 people, has the highest rate of school dropouts in the Italian region of Campania. Once a thriving industrial community, many of the factories were destroyed in a 1980 earthquake and never rebuilt. The resulting de-industrialization turned Barra into a poor, decaying neighborhood. There are no cinemas, theaters, parks or public spaces in Barra.<br />
The vast majority of children from poor families are faced with the choice of working in the black economy or joining the ranks of the organised crime.<br />
Recently, Save the Children Italy opened a number of educational and social spaces in Barra. The centers, known as Punti Luce, or points of light, aim to help local kids stay out of the ranks of the organised crime and have also become hubs for Iqbal's Carpet to work.
    CIPG_20180316_CAUSETTE_NapoliBarra_M...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 16 MARCH 2018: Vault horses are seen here in the gym of "Il Tappeto di Iqbal" (Iqbal's carpet), a non-profit cooperative in Barra, the estern district of Naples, Italy, on March 16th 2018.<br />
<br />
Il Tappeto di Iqbal (Iqbal’s Carpet) is a non-profit cooperative founded in 2015 and Save The Children partner since 2015 that operates in the Naple’s eastern neighborhood of Barra children in the arts of circus, theater and parkour. It was named after Iqbal Masih, a Pakistani boy who escaped from life as a child slave and became an activist against bonded labor in the 1990s.<br />
Barra, which is home to some 45,000 people, has the highest rate of school dropouts in the Italian region of Campania. Once a thriving industrial community, many of the factories were destroyed in a 1980 earthquake and never rebuilt. The resulting de-industrialization turned Barra into a poor, decaying neighborhood. There are no cinemas, theaters, parks or public spaces in Barra.<br />
The vast majority of children from poor families are faced with the choice of working in the black economy or joining the ranks of the organised crime.<br />
Recently, Save the Children Italy opened a number of educational and social spaces in Barra. The centers, known as Punti Luce, or points of light, aim to help local kids stay out of the ranks of the organised crime and have also become hubs for Iqbal's Carpet to work.
    CIPG_20180316_CAUSETTE_NapoliBarra_M...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 16 MARCH 2018: (L-R) Members and Instructors of "Il Tappet o di Iqbal" Carlo Epifani (19), Mattia Formicola (22, top), Pietro Esposito (21, bottom), Ciro Grimaldi (22), Founder and President Giovanni Savino (38), Caterina Spezzaferri (29, top), Chiara Scognamiglio (20, bottom), Michelangelo Ravone (23), Antonio Bosso (25) and Vice-President Marco Riccio (25) pose for a portrait at "Il Tappeto di Iqbal" (Iqbal's carpet), a non-profit cooperative in Barra, the estern district of Naples, Italy, on March 16th 2018.<br />
<br />
Il Tappeto di Iqbal (Iqbal’s Carpet) is a non-profit cooperative founded in 2015 and Save The Children partner since 2015 that operates in the Naple’s eastern neighborhood of Barra children in the arts of circus, theater and parkour. It was named after Iqbal Masih, a Pakistani boy who escaped from life as a child slave and became an activist against bonded labor in the 1990s.<br />
Barra, which is home to some 45,000 people, has the highest rate of school dropouts in the Italian region of Campania. Once a thriving industrial community, many of the factories were destroyed in a 1980 earthquake and never rebuilt. The resulting de-industrialization turned Barra into a poor, decaying neighborhood. There are no cinemas, theaters, parks or public spaces in Barra.<br />
The vast majority of children from poor families are faced with the choice of working in the black economy or joining the ranks of the organised crime.<br />
Recently, Save the Children Italy opened a number of educational and social spaces in Barra. The centers, known as Punti Luce, or points of light, aim to help local kids stay out of the ranks of the organised crime and have also become hubs for Iqbal's Carpet to work.
    CIPG_20180316_CAUSETTE_NapoliBarra_M...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 16 MARCH 2018: Abstract paintings made by children during their after-school activity are seen here at "Il Tappeto di Iqbal" (Iqbal's carpet), a non-profit cooperative in Barra, the estern district of Naples, Italy, on March 16th 2018.<br />
<br />
Il Tappeto di Iqbal (Iqbal’s Carpet) is a non-profit cooperative founded in 2015 and Save The Children partner since 2015 that operates in the Naple’s eastern neighborhood of Barra children in the arts of circus, theater and parkour. It was named after Iqbal Masih, a Pakistani boy who escaped from life as a child slave and became an activist against bonded labor in the 1990s.<br />
Barra, which is home to some 45,000 people, has the highest rate of school dropouts in the Italian region of Campania. Once a thriving industrial community, many of the factories were destroyed in a 1980 earthquake and never rebuilt. The resulting de-industrialization turned Barra into a poor, decaying neighborhood. There are no cinemas, theaters, parks or public spaces in Barra.<br />
The vast majority of children from poor families are faced with the choice of working in the black economy or joining the ranks of the organised crime.<br />
Recently, Save the Children Italy opened a number of educational and social spaces in Barra. The centers, known as Punti Luce, or points of light, aim to help local kids stay out of the ranks of the organised crime and have also become hubs for Iqbal's Carpet to work.
    CIPG_20180316_CAUSETTE_NapoliBarra_M...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 16 MARCH 2018: Teenagers followed by their instructors walk out of the gym after practicing parkour at "Il Tappeto di Iqbal" (Iqbal's carpet), a non-profit cooperative in Barra, the estern district of Naples, Italy, on March 16th 2018.<br />
<br />
Il Tappeto di Iqbal (Iqbal’s Carpet) is a non-profit cooperative founded in 2015 and Save The Children partner since 2015 that operates in the Naple’s eastern neighborhood of Barra children in the arts of circus, theater and parkour. It was named after Iqbal Masih, a Pakistani boy who escaped from life as a child slave and became an activist against bonded labor in the 1990s.<br />
Barra, which is home to some 45,000 people, has the highest rate of school dropouts in the Italian region of Campania. Once a thriving industrial community, many of the factories were destroyed in a 1980 earthquake and never rebuilt. The resulting de-industrialization turned Barra into a poor, decaying neighborhood. There are no cinemas, theaters, parks or public spaces in Barra.<br />
The vast majority of children from poor families are faced with the choice of working in the black economy or joining the ranks of the organised crime.<br />
Recently, Save the Children Italy opened a number of educational and social spaces in Barra. The centers, known as Punti Luce, or points of light, aim to help local kids stay out of the ranks of the organised crime and have also become hubs for Iqbal's Carpet to work.
    CIPG_20180316_CAUSETTE_NapoliBarra_M...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 16 MARCH 2018: Aerial Dance instructor Caterina Spezzaferri (29) teaches aerial dance to teenagers at "Il Tappeto di Iqbal" (Iqbal's carpet), a non-profit cooperative in Barra, the estern district of Naples, Italy, on March 16th 2018.<br />
<br />
Il Tappeto di Iqbal (Iqbal’s Carpet) is a non-profit cooperative founded in 2015 and Save The Children partner since 2015 that operates in the Naple’s eastern neighborhood of Barra children in the arts of circus, theater and parkour. It was named after Iqbal Masih, a Pakistani boy who escaped from life as a child slave and became an activist against bonded labor in the 1990s.<br />
Barra, which is home to some 45,000 people, has the highest rate of school dropouts in the Italian region of Campania. Once a thriving industrial community, many of the factories were destroyed in a 1980 earthquake and never rebuilt. The resulting de-industrialization turned Barra into a poor, decaying neighborhood. There are no cinemas, theaters, parks or public spaces in Barra.<br />
The vast majority of children from poor families are faced with the choice of working in the black economy or joining the ranks of the organised crime.<br />
Recently, Save the Children Italy opened a number of educational and social spaces in Barra. The centers, known as Punti Luce, or points of light, aim to help local kids stay out of the ranks of the organised crime and have also become hubs for Iqbal's Carpet to work.
    CIPG_20180316_CAUSETTE_NapoliBarra_M...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 16 MARCH 2018: (R-L) Circus instructor Antonio Bosso (25) hugs Carllo Borrelli (23)  at "Il Tappeto di Iqbal" (Iqbal's carpet), a non-profit cooperative in Barra, the estern district of Naples, Italy, on March 16th 2018.<br />
<br />
Il Tappeto di Iqbal (Iqbal’s Carpet) is a non-profit cooperative founded in 2015 and Save The Children partner since 2015 that operates in the Naple’s eastern neighborhood of Barra children in the arts of circus, theater and parkour. It was named after Iqbal Masih, a Pakistani boy who escaped from life as a child slave and became an activist against bonded labor in the 1990s.<br />
Barra, which is home to some 45,000 people, has the highest rate of school dropouts in the Italian region of Campania. Once a thriving industrial community, many of the factories were destroyed in a 1980 earthquake and never rebuilt. The resulting de-industrialization turned Barra into a poor, decaying neighborhood. There are no cinemas, theaters, parks or public spaces in Barra.<br />
The vast majority of children from poor families are faced with the choice of working in the black economy or joining the ranks of the organised crime.<br />
Recently, Save the Children Italy opened a number of educational and social spaces in Barra. The centers, known as Punti Luce, or points of light, aim to help local kids stay out of the ranks of the organised crime and have also become hubs for Iqbal's Carpet to work.
    CIPG_20180316_CAUSETTE_NapoliBarra_M...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 16 MARCH 2018: Aerial Dance instructor Caterina Spezzaferri (29) teaches aerial dance to teenagers at "Il Tappeto di Iqbal" (Iqbal's carpet), a non-profit cooperative in Barra, the estern district of Naples, Italy, on March 16th 2018.<br />
<br />
Il Tappeto di Iqbal (Iqbal’s Carpet) is a non-profit cooperative founded in 2015 and Save The Children partner since 2015 that operates in the Naple’s eastern neighborhood of Barra children in the arts of circus, theater and parkour. It was named after Iqbal Masih, a Pakistani boy who escaped from life as a child slave and became an activist against bonded labor in the 1990s.<br />
Barra, which is home to some 45,000 people, has the highest rate of school dropouts in the Italian region of Campania. Once a thriving industrial community, many of the factories were destroyed in a 1980 earthquake and never rebuilt. The resulting de-industrialization turned Barra into a poor, decaying neighborhood. There are no cinemas, theaters, parks or public spaces in Barra.<br />
The vast majority of children from poor families are faced with the choice of working in the black economy or joining the ranks of the organised crime.<br />
Recently, Save the Children Italy opened a number of educational and social spaces in Barra. The centers, known as Punti Luce, or points of light, aim to help local kids stay out of the ranks of the organised crime and have also become hubs for Iqbal's Carpet to work.
    CIPG_20180316_CAUSETTE_NapoliBarra_M...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 16 MARCH 2018: Teenagers practice aerial dance and trapeze at "Il Tappeto di Iqbal" (Iqbal's carpet), a non-profit cooperative in Barra, the estern district of Naples, Italy, on March 16th 2018.<br />
<br />
Il Tappeto di Iqbal (Iqbal’s Carpet) is a non-profit cooperative founded in 2015 and Save The Children partner since 2015 that operates in the Naple’s eastern neighborhood of Barra children in the arts of circus, theater and parkour. It was named after Iqbal Masih, a Pakistani boy who escaped from life as a child slave and became an activist against bonded labor in the 1990s.<br />
Barra, which is home to some 45,000 people, has the highest rate of school dropouts in the Italian region of Campania. Once a thriving industrial community, many of the factories were destroyed in a 1980 earthquake and never rebuilt. The resulting de-industrialization turned Barra into a poor, decaying neighborhood. There are no cinemas, theaters, parks or public spaces in Barra.<br />
The vast majority of children from poor families are faced with the choice of working in the black economy or joining the ranks of the organised crime.<br />
Recently, Save the Children Italy opened a number of educational and social spaces in Barra. The centers, known as Punti Luce, or points of light, aim to help local kids stay out of the ranks of the organised crime and have also become hubs for Iqbal's Carpet to work.
    CIPG_20180316_CAUSETTE_NapoliBarra_M...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 16 MARCH 2018: Secreatry Pietro Esposito (21) is seen here at work at "Il Tappeto di Iqbal" (Iqbal's carpet), a non-profit cooperative in Barra, the estern district of Naples, Italy, on March 16th 2018.<br />
<br />
Il Tappeto di Iqbal (Iqbal’s Carpet) is a non-profit cooperative founded in 2015 and Save The Children partner since 2015 that operates in the Naple’s eastern neighborhood of Barra children in the arts of circus, theater and parkour. It was named after Iqbal Masih, a Pakistani boy who escaped from life as a child slave and became an activist against bonded labor in the 1990s.<br />
Barra, which is home to some 45,000 people, has the highest rate of school dropouts in the Italian region of Campania. Once a thriving industrial community, many of the factories were destroyed in a 1980 earthquake and never rebuilt. The resulting de-industrialization turned Barra into a poor, decaying neighborhood. There are no cinemas, theaters, parks or public spaces in Barra.<br />
The vast majority of children from poor families are faced with the choice of working in the black economy or joining the ranks of the organised crime.<br />
Recently, Save the Children Italy opened a number of educational and social spaces in Barra. The centers, known as Punti Luce, or points of light, aim to help local kids stay out of the ranks of the organised crime and have also become hubs for Iqbal's Carpet to work.
    CIPG_20180316_CAUSETTE_NapoliBarra_M...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 16 MARCH 2018: Secreatry Pietro Esposito (21) is seen here at work at "Il Tappeto di Iqbal" (Iqbal's carpet), a non-profit cooperative in Barra, the estern district of Naples, Italy, on March 16th 2018.<br />
<br />
Il Tappeto di Iqbal (Iqbal’s Carpet) is a non-profit cooperative founded in 2015 and Save The Children partner since 2015 that operates in the Naple’s eastern neighborhood of Barra children in the arts of circus, theater and parkour. It was named after Iqbal Masih, a Pakistani boy who escaped from life as a child slave and became an activist against bonded labor in the 1990s.<br />
Barra, which is home to some 45,000 people, has the highest rate of school dropouts in the Italian region of Campania. Once a thriving industrial community, many of the factories were destroyed in a 1980 earthquake and never rebuilt. The resulting de-industrialization turned Barra into a poor, decaying neighborhood. There are no cinemas, theaters, parks or public spaces in Barra.<br />
The vast majority of children from poor families are faced with the choice of working in the black economy or joining the ranks of the organised crime.<br />
Recently, Save the Children Italy opened a number of educational and social spaces in Barra. The centers, known as Punti Luce, or points of light, aim to help local kids stay out of the ranks of the organised crime and have also become hubs for Iqbal's Carpet to work.
    CIPG_20180316_CAUSETTE_NapoliBarra_M...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 16 MARCH 2018: (R-L) Carlo Borrelli (23, Janitor), Pietro Esposito (21, Secretary) and Marco Ravone (19, circus teacher) are seen here at "Il Tappeto di Iqbal" (Iqbal's carpet), a non-profit cooperative in Barra, the estern district of Naples, Italy, on March 16th 2018.<br />
<br />
Il Tappeto di Iqbal (Iqbal’s Carpet) is a non-profit cooperative founded in 2015 and Save The Children partner since 2015 that operates in the Naple’s eastern neighborhood of Barra children in the arts of circus, theater and parkour. It was named after Iqbal Masih, a Pakistani boy who escaped from life as a child slave and became an activist against bonded labor in the 1990s.<br />
Barra, which is home to some 45,000 people, has the highest rate of school dropouts in the Italian region of Campania. Once a thriving industrial community, many of the factories were destroyed in a 1980 earthquake and never rebuilt. The resulting de-industrialization turned Barra into a poor, decaying neighborhood. There are no cinemas, theaters, parks or public spaces in Barra.<br />
The vast majority of children from poor families are faced with the choice of working in the black economy or joining the ranks of the organised crime.<br />
Recently, Save the Children Italy opened a number of educational and social spaces in Barra. The centers, known as Punti Luce, or points of light, aim to help local kids stay out of the ranks of the organised crime and have also become hubs for Iqbal's Carpet to work.
    CIPG_20180316_CAUSETTE_NapoliBarra_M...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 16 MARCH 2018:  A teenagers is seen here during a warm-up session before a parkour class at "Il Tappeto di Iqbal" (Iqbal's carpet), a non-profit cooperative in Barra, the estern district of Naples, Italy, on March 16th 2018.<br />
<br />
Il Tappeto di Iqbal (Iqbal’s Carpet) is a non-profit cooperative founded in 2015 and Save The Children partner since 2015 that operates in the Naple’s eastern neighborhood of Barra children in the arts of circus, theater and parkour. It was named after Iqbal Masih, a Pakistani boy who escaped from life as a child slave and became an activist against bonded labor in the 1990s.<br />
Barra, which is home to some 45,000 people, has the highest rate of school dropouts in the Italian region of Campania. Once a thriving industrial community, many of the factories were destroyed in a 1980 earthquake and never rebuilt. The resulting de-industrialization turned Barra into a poor, decaying neighborhood. There are no cinemas, theaters, parks or public spaces in Barra.<br />
The vast majority of children from poor families are faced with the choice of working in the black economy or joining the ranks of the organised crime.<br />
Recently, Save the Children Italy opened a number of educational and social spaces in Barra. The centers, known as Punti Luce, or points of light, aim to help local kids stay out of the ranks of the organised crime and have also become hubs for Iqbal's Carpet to work.
    CIPG_20180316_CAUSETTE_NapoliBarra_M...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 16 MARCH 2018: (L-R) Founder and President of "Il Tappeto di Iqbal" Giovanni Savino (38) discusses with Save The Children project coordinator Luigi Malcangi at "Il Tappeto di Iqbal" (Iqbal's carpet), a non-profit cooperative in Barra, the estern district of Naples, Italy, on March 16th 2018.<br />
<br />
Il Tappeto di Iqbal (Iqbal’s Carpet) is a non-profit cooperative founded in 2015 and Save The Children partner since 2015 that operates in the Naple’s eastern neighborhood of Barra children in the arts of circus, theater and parkour. It was named after Iqbal Masih, a Pakistani boy who escaped from life as a child slave and became an activist against bonded labor in the 1990s.<br />
Barra, which is home to some 45,000 people, has the highest rate of school dropouts in the Italian region of Campania. Once a thriving industrial community, many of the factories were destroyed in a 1980 earthquake and never rebuilt. The resulting de-industrialization turned Barra into a poor, decaying neighborhood. There are no cinemas, theaters, parks or public spaces in Barra.<br />
The vast majority of children from poor families are faced with the choice of working in the black economy or joining the ranks of the organised crime.<br />
Recently, Save the Children Italy opened a number of educational and social spaces in Barra. The centers, known as Punti Luce, or points of light, aim to help local kids stay out of the ranks of the organised crime and have also become hubs for Iqbal's Carpet to work.
    CIPG_20180316_CAUSETTE_NapoliBarra_M...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 16 MARCH 2018: Founder and President of "Il Tappeto di Iqbal" Giovanni Savino (38) is seen here with elementary school children during after-school activity at "Il Tappeto di Iqbal" (Iqbal's carpet), a non-profit cooperative in Barra, the estern district of Naples, Italy, on March 16th 2018.<br />
<br />
Il Tappeto di Iqbal (Iqbal’s Carpet) is a non-profit cooperative founded in 2015 and Save The Children partner since 2015 that operates in the Naple’s eastern neighborhood of Barra children in the arts of circus, theater and parkour. It was named after Iqbal Masih, a Pakistani boy who escaped from life as a child slave and became an activist against bonded labor in the 1990s.<br />
Barra, which is home to some 45,000 people, has the highest rate of school dropouts in the Italian region of Campania. Once a thriving industrial community, many of the factories were destroyed in a 1980 earthquake and never rebuilt. The resulting de-industrialization turned Barra into a poor, decaying neighborhood. There are no cinemas, theaters, parks or public spaces in Barra.<br />
The vast majority of children from poor families are faced with the choice of working in the black economy or joining the ranks of the organised crime.<br />
Recently, Save the Children Italy opened a number of educational and social spaces in Barra. The centers, known as Punti Luce, or points of light, aim to help local kids stay out of the ranks of the organised crime and have also become hubs for Iqbal's Carpet to work.
    CIPG_20180316_CAUSETTE_NapoliBarra_M...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 16 MARCH 2018: Aerial Dance instructor Caterina Spezzaferri (29) teaches aerial dance to teenagers at "Il Tappeto di Iqbal" (Iqbal's carpet), a non-profit cooperative in Barra, the estern district of Naples, Italy, on March 16th 2018.<br />
<br />
Il Tappeto di Iqbal (Iqbal’s Carpet) is a non-profit cooperative founded in 2015 and Save The Children partner since 2015 that operates in the Naple’s eastern neighborhood of Barra children in the arts of circus, theater and parkour. It was named after Iqbal Masih, a Pakistani boy who escaped from life as a child slave and became an activist against bonded labor in the 1990s.<br />
Barra, which is home to some 45,000 people, has the highest rate of school dropouts in the Italian region of Campania. Once a thriving industrial community, many of the factories were destroyed in a 1980 earthquake and never rebuilt. The resulting de-industrialization turned Barra into a poor, decaying neighborhood. There are no cinemas, theaters, parks or public spaces in Barra.<br />
The vast majority of children from poor families are faced with the choice of working in the black economy or joining the ranks of the organised crime.<br />
Recently, Save the Children Italy opened a number of educational and social spaces in Barra. The centers, known as Punti Luce, or points of light, aim to help local kids stay out of the ranks of the organised crime and have also become hubs for Iqbal's Carpet to work.
    CIPG_20180316_CAUSETTE_NapoliBarra_M...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 16 MARCH 2018: Aerial Dance instructor Caterina Spezzaferri (29) teaches aerial dance to teenagers at "Il Tappeto di Iqbal" (Iqbal's carpet), a non-profit cooperative in Barra, the estern district of Naples, Italy, on March 16th 2018.<br />
<br />
Il Tappeto di Iqbal (Iqbal’s Carpet) is a non-profit cooperative founded in 2015 and Save The Children partner since 2015 that operates in the Naple’s eastern neighborhood of Barra children in the arts of circus, theater and parkour. It was named after Iqbal Masih, a Pakistani boy who escaped from life as a child slave and became an activist against bonded labor in the 1990s.<br />
Barra, which is home to some 45,000 people, has the highest rate of school dropouts in the Italian region of Campania. Once a thriving industrial community, many of the factories were destroyed in a 1980 earthquake and never rebuilt. The resulting de-industrialization turned Barra into a poor, decaying neighborhood. There are no cinemas, theaters, parks or public spaces in Barra.<br />
The vast majority of children from poor families are faced with the choice of working in the black economy or joining the ranks of the organised crime.<br />
Recently, Save the Children Italy opened a number of educational and social spaces in Barra. The centers, known as Punti Luce, or points of light, aim to help local kids stay out of the ranks of the organised crime and have also become hubs for Iqbal's Carpet to work.
    CIPG_20180316_CAUSETTE_NapoliBarra_M...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 16 MARCH 2018: (L-R) Antonio Bosso (25), Carllo Borrelli (23) and Carlo Epifani (19), workers of "Il Tappeto di Iqbal" pose for a portait at "Il Tappeto di Iqbal" (Iqbal's carpet), a non-profit cooperative in Barra, the estern district of Naples, Italy, on March 16th 2018.<br />
<br />
Il Tappeto di Iqbal (Iqbal’s Carpet) is a non-profit cooperative founded in 2015 and Save The Children partner since 2015 that operates in the Naple’s eastern neighborhood of Barra children in the arts of circus, theater and parkour. It was named after Iqbal Masih, a Pakistani boy who escaped from life as a child slave and became an activist against bonded labor in the 1990s.<br />
Barra, which is home to some 45,000 people, has the highest rate of school dropouts in the Italian region of Campania. Once a thriving industrial community, many of the factories were destroyed in a 1980 earthquake and never rebuilt. The resulting de-industrialization turned Barra into a poor, decaying neighborhood. There are no cinemas, theaters, parks or public spaces in Barra.<br />
The vast majority of children from poor families are faced with the choice of working in the black economy or joining the ranks of the organised crime.<br />
Recently, Save the Children Italy opened a number of educational and social spaces in Barra. The centers, known as Punti Luce, or points of light, aim to help local kids stay out of the ranks of the organised crime and have also become hubs for Iqbal's Carpet to work.
    CIPG_20180316_CAUSETTE_NapoliBarra_M...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 16 MARCH 2018: Teenagers pratice juggling during the circus activity at "Il Tappeto di Iqbal" (Iqbal's carpet), a non-profit cooperative in Barra, the estern district of Naples, Italy, on March 16th 2018.<br />
<br />
Il Tappeto di Iqbal (Iqbal’s Carpet) is a non-profit cooperative founded in 2015 and Save The Children partner since 2015 that operates in the Naple’s eastern neighborhood of Barra children in the arts of circus, theater and parkour. It was named after Iqbal Masih, a Pakistani boy who escaped from life as a child slave and became an activist against bonded labor in the 1990s.<br />
Barra, which is home to some 45,000 people, has the highest rate of school dropouts in the Italian region of Campania. Once a thriving industrial community, many of the factories were destroyed in a 1980 earthquake and never rebuilt. The resulting de-industrialization turned Barra into a poor, decaying neighborhood. There are no cinemas, theaters, parks or public spaces in Barra.<br />
The vast majority of children from poor families are faced with the choice of working in the black economy or joining the ranks of the organised crime.<br />
Recently, Save the Children Italy opened a number of educational and social spaces in Barra. The centers, known as Punti Luce, or points of light, aim to help local kids stay out of the ranks of the organised crime and have also become hubs for Iqbal's Carpet to work.
    CIPG_20180316_CAUSETTE_NapoliBarra_M...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 16 MARCH 2018: Buildings of the Barra neighborhood are seen here from the gym of  "Il Tappeto di Iqbal" (Iqbal's carpet), a non-profit cooperative in Barra, the estern district of Naples, Italy, on March 16th 2018.<br />
<br />
Il Tappeto di Iqbal (Iqbal’s Carpet) is a non-profit cooperative founded in 2015 and Save The Children partner since 2015 that operates in the Naple’s eastern neighborhood of Barra children in the arts of circus, theater and parkour. It was named after Iqbal Masih, a Pakistani boy who escaped from life as a child slave and became an activist against bonded labor in the 1990s.<br />
Barra, which is home to some 45,000 people, has the highest rate of school dropouts in the Italian region of Campania. Once a thriving industrial community, many of the factories were destroyed in a 1980 earthquake and never rebuilt. The resulting de-industrialization turned Barra into a poor, decaying neighborhood. There are no cinemas, theaters, parks or public spaces in Barra.<br />
The vast majority of children from poor families are faced with the choice of working in the black economy or joining the ranks of the organised crime.<br />
Recently, Save the Children Italy opened a number of educational and social spaces in Barra. The centers, known as Punti Luce, or points of light, aim to help local kids stay out of the ranks of the organised crime and have also become hubs for Iqbal's Carpet to work.
    CIPG_20180316_CAUSETTE_NapoliBarra_M...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 16 MARCH 2018: A teenager standing on stilts looks at the Barra neighborhood from the gym during the circus activity at "Il Tappeto di Iqbal" (Iqbal's carpet), a non-profit cooperative in Barra, the estern district of Naples, Italy, on March 16th 2018.<br />
<br />
Il Tappeto di Iqbal (Iqbal’s Carpet) is a non-profit cooperative founded in 2015 and Save The Children partner since 2015 that operates in the Naple’s eastern neighborhood of Barra children in the arts of circus, theater and parkour. It was named after Iqbal Masih, a Pakistani boy who escaped from life as a child slave and became an activist against bonded labor in the 1990s.<br />
Barra, which is home to some 45,000 people, has the highest rate of school dropouts in the Italian region of Campania. Once a thriving industrial community, many of the factories were destroyed in a 1980 earthquake and never rebuilt. The resulting de-industrialization turned Barra into a poor, decaying neighborhood. There are no cinemas, theaters, parks or public spaces in Barra.<br />
The vast majority of children from poor families are faced with the choice of working in the black economy or joining the ranks of the organised crime.<br />
Recently, Save the Children Italy opened a number of educational and social spaces in Barra. The centers, known as Punti Luce, or points of light, aim to help local kids stay out of the ranks of the organised crime and have also become hubs for Iqbal's Carpet to work.
    CIPG_20180316_CAUSETTE_NapoliBarra_M...jpg
Next