The Secretariat of State for Education and Culture intervenes on the introduction of the Delegated Decree n. 140 of 3 October 2022, concerning “The curricular indications of the teaching of the Catholic Religion” as required by Law no. 95 of 6 June 2019 which starts the experimentation of the “Curricular indications for the San Marino school”.

“The curricular indications for all the envisaged disciplinary ambitions were subsequently adopted. The Decree does not introduce the teaching of the Catholic Religion in Kindergarten, but dutifully, explains the provisions of the agreement between the Republic of San Marino and the Holy See for the teaching of the Catholic religion in public schools, signed on 26 June 2018 by the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs; it states that the Republic of San Marino “ensures the teaching of the Catholic religion in public schools of all types and levels”.

Furthermore, on 28 March 2019 this agreement was reached by an agreement between the Secretariat of State for Education and Culture and the San Marino-Montefeltro Diocese relating to the teaching of the Catholic religion in the schools of the Republic of San Marino, signed after Congressional resolution. In this agreement, point 1.3 provides that: “In infant school, taking into account the specific educational needs connected to the age of the children and the very particular conditions in which they operate, the teaching of religious culture is entrusted to teachers section holders. These activities are included in the curricular planning and organized according to specific criteria of flexibility”.

The indications for the teaching of the Catholic religion, used by the Delegated Decree n. 140, were defined through a process, carried out with a careful comparison between the reference teachers and the expert – Prof. Andrea Porcarelli, of the University of Padua – in which it was necessary to comply with the provisions contained in the agreement and in the understanding cited.

The formalization of the curricular indications which, it should be recalled, is in any case experimental and susceptible to changes, clearly states that “In kindergarten the great themes of a religious nature come together in the teaching of religious culture, which – taking into account the specific educational needs related to the age of the children and the opportunity for a playful and holistic approach – is entrusted to the section teachers and is linked to the Areas of experience that traditionally accompany the planning logic of the San Marino nursery school”.

We recall that the Educational and Didactic Guidelines for the Infant School of the Republic of San Marino of 2009 (deliberation of the CdS n. 8 of 5 October 2009), currently in force and normative basis for the planning of the activities of this school order, highlight in clearly the need for students to be provided with answers that pertain to questions of an ethical and religious nature, always with respect for every conception of life and every orientation.

The Delegated Decree n. 140 therefore, adopts only the clarification, as happened for all the other disciplinary ambitions, of curricular indications required by law and, in this case, also on the basis of previously signed international agreements. It will now be the responsibility of all school orders to follow up, in line with the regulatory guidelines and in the most respectful way of all sensitivities, the implementation of the indications which, as already mentioned, are experimental and may subsequently be modified and adapted starting from the reflections of teachers and families, especially as regards the Kindergarten where there are no specific timetables and specialist interventions or planning”.