T. +39 0541 909630
The desire to create a “School of Gratuitousness”, was initially planned with the least and most marginalised in mind and also as a guarantee of full integration into the education system of people with disabilities, thus bringing about the "Society of Gratuitousness". This gave rise, in 1995, to the founding of the Pope John XXIII Community Service for Schools.
The school of gratuitousness was initially planned with the least and most marginalised in mind, thus providing a better school experience for everyone.
It is based on the concept of gratuitousness, that being what is freely given rather than subject to market forces and the profit motive, in order that each person is valued as a unique individual. The service has put this concept into practice by drawing up a “Manifesto for the School of Gratuitousness”.
Community members who are teachers bring this particular aspect of the vocation into the schools in which they work.
The Service for School operates on two fronts, educational inclusion and the school for gratuitousness.
Educational inclusion
The action taken for educational inclusion initially consisted of helping Community families deal with the difficulties their children, both natural and welcomed in, encountered during their schooling. This support was soon extended to families outside the Community, resulting in the launch of some real action campaigns in some Italian cities, fighting to obtain a suitable number of hours of teaching assistance. The service has also put pressure on politicians and legal experts to achieve this aim.
The School of Gratuitousness
Other action
Training courses for schools have been created in response to the educational and cultural needs of young people in drug rehabilitation programmes and in order to coordinate the action taken in schools by other services of the association, such as projects dealing with peace and civilian service, the prevention of distress youth disadvantage, musical and theatre workshops, etc.