Italian teachers are an under-proletariat

Columnist Pietro Citati remembers that during his childhood teachers weren't very rich. Their instruction, on the other hand, was irreproachable, thanks to an education system whose emphasis on a solid foundation in the humanities engaged the students. He regrets the fact that "fifty years ago they were respected for their role, and they lived in a decent manner. School reform, nepotism and miserable salaries have produced an under-class today, a sort of under-proletariat who have just enough money to feed and clothe themselves, and definitely not enough to buy books. The future of western civilisation depends on specialisation, learned in school, and for this reason teachers must become an elite once again."

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