Italy to install CCTV in schools ‘to protect children’

7 Aug 19

Italy has pledged to spend €80m on installing CCTV cameras in schools and nurseries, which the government has said is for the safety of children and teachers.

This year, €5m will go towards the cameras, with €15m following each year until 2024.

The policy has been championed by deputy prime minister and minister of the interior Matteo Salvini, secretary-general of Italy’s far-right Lega party.

He tweeted to celebrate the move on Wednesday.

He added: “The funds will be distributed to the municipalities: they will cover the installation of electronic eyes and the purchase of tools for storing images.

“So we defend children and protect the many respectable teachers. Another promise kept!”

Earlier this year, two teachers at a Chinese-run nursery in Prato, Tuscany, were arrested after hidden camera footage appeared to show them beating children.

Italy has recently finished its “safe schools” project results for the last academic year, which involved increasing supervision around schools to try to stop students taking and dealing drugs.

Nearly 15kg of drugs were seized during the year in an operation involving more than 26,000 police staff, and local authorities were given between €33,000 and €67,000 for measures including setting up surveillance systems.

This year, other areas with increased CCTV in Italy include pharmacies (in Perugia) and tobacconists (in Reggio Emilia), as the authorities work to try to protect staff from robberies.

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