Learning disabilities, a bipartisan panel in Emilia-Romagna. The number of cases in the region has skyrocketed: above the Italian average.

Bologna, July 9, 2025 – A glance at the growing numbers is enough to realize that the issue of students with special educational needs (SEN) and specific learning disabilities (SLD) must be addressed (and immediately). Data released by the regional school office in a report on SLD alone shows that there were 35,411 reports for the 2023/2024 school year, approximately 10,000 more than in the 2016/2017 school year. Istat (the Italian National Institute of Statistics) estimates that the percentage of students with SLD/SLD in Emilia-Romagna is 11% of the student body in the 2023/2024 school year, compared to the Italian average of 8.6%. Specifically, in Emilia-Romagna, these students represent 0.9% of preschool students, 8.1% of primary school students, 16.3% of middle school students, and 15.1% of upper secondary school students. This is why it is very important to provide an early diagnosis.

The bipartisan effort

Hence, the Emilia-Romagna region's leap forward, with the Legislative Assembly approving a resolution proposed by Councilor Valentina Castaldini (Forza Italia), co-signed by her colleagues Nicola Marcello (FdI), Barbara Lori (PD), Piero Vignali (FI), Elena Ugolini (Rete Civica), Anna Fornili, and Ludovica Carla Ferrari (PD), to establish a working group that focuses on young people facing these challenges. The resolution, passed unanimously, aims to involve all stakeholders, including the regional school office, municipal representatives, family associations, and non-state school associations, to address the increasingly urgent numbers and test innovative projects that will serve to develop new guidelines for early diagnosis.

Castaldini leader

"Each student with special educational needs requires an effort from the school to provide flexible and personalized responses, based on individual intervention. This is realized through the preparation of a personalized learning plan, with costs for materials, aids, or support staff entirely borne by the municipalities, the school, or the family," Councilor Castaldini explains. "This personalized teaching requires adequate training from teachers, which often isn't provided, and educational institutions find themselves having to respond with great willingness and commitment to situations that would require specialized training." For this reason, through the resolution, the regional councilor for Forza Italia "requested the establishment of a working group involving the regional school office, municipal representatives, family associations, non-state school associations, and all interested parties, with the aim of addressing these emergency numbers by piloting innovative projects that will serve to develop new guidelines for early diagnosis. The fact that the resolution was passed unanimously demonstrates the urgency of the proposal, which can unite forces on an issue that affects the future of our children."