Andrea Innocenti The budget bill envisages a drastic reduction in school staff starting next year. According to data released by the UIL (Italian Labour Union) , 4.925 teaching positions and 2.049 ATA staff positions will be cut starting in the 2027/28 school year. These reductions would be added to the cuts already established for previous years, bringing the total to 14.808 positions lost across three school cycles.
The reduction plan envisaged by the bill
Specifically, the parliamentary proposal eliminates 5.660 teachers from the 2025/26 school year and 2.174 ATA staff from the 2026/27 school year. These cuts are compounded by new cuts in 2027/28, resulting in a cumulative increase that threatens the system's equilibrium. The government's stated intention is to adapt the school system to the declining population, but the availability of human resources in state schools would be significantly compromised.
Reductions from 2027/28: Highlighted numbers
The measure specifically calls for 4.925 teaching positions to be eliminated and 2.049 ATA positions to be reduced in the 2027/28 school year. If these numbers are confirmed, the school system would lose nearly 7 teaching and auxiliary staff, a significant percentage of the national total.
The protests of the UIL and UIL Scuola
PierPaolo Bombardieri, general secretary of the UIL, and Giuseppe D'Aprile, general secretary of the UIL Scuola, strongly expressed their disbelief at the measure. They called the decision unacceptable , arguing that the declining birth rate cannot be used as an excuse to reduce educational staff. According to the unionists, the decline in enrollment should be used to reduce class sizes, not to reduce staffing levels, thus exacerbating the difficulties of a system already plagued by precarious employment.
Consequences on the functioning of schools
Reducing ATA staff would increase workloads for those who remain, jeopardizing supervision, support, and administrative management. In the country's inland areas, where the population is smaller, these cuts could exacerbate inequalities and contribute to depopulation. According to the UIL, staff reductions would not only weaken the quality of teaching but also compromise the ability to provide adequate support to students and families.
The category's requests
Faced with this scenario, the UIL and UIL Scuola are calling on the Government and Parliament to repeal the cuts contained in the budget. They also urge the allocation of additional resources for contract renewals and the extension of tax exemptions on salary increases to all public sector employees. For the two organizations, investing in education is equivalent to investing in the country's future , and any staff reduction represents a retreat from the national growth plan.