The teacher who was sacked after avoiding work for 20 years has said she ‘can’t' share her story yet... because she is ‘at the beach’.
Secondary school teacher Cinzia Paolina De Lio was fired after it was revealed she had been absent for 20 years of her 24-year career.
De Lio, who taught literature and philosophy in schools near Venice in Italy, is believed to have used a combination of sick leave, holiday time and permits to attend conferences to avoid giving lessons at the school - somehow managing to get away with this for more than two decades.
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She was originally dismissed back in 2017 after she returned to work for four months and prompted several complaints due to her ‘unprepared’ and ‘inattentive’ teaching style.
But she ended up taking the dismissal to court the following year, and was reinstated by a judge in Venice.
The education ministry then launched a counter appeal, which made its way to the Supreme Court of Cassation - the highest court in Italy – which reversed the 2018 decision last week, saying the two decades of absences showed a ‘permanent and absolute ineptitude’.
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De Lio has vowed to share her side of the story, saying she would be happy to share the facts of this ‘unique and surreal story’ - but not right away.
When journalists from La Repubblica approached her so she could explain what happened from her perspective, she brazenly told them: "Sorry, but right now I'm at the beach."
Fair enough, really.
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She went on: "I will reconstruct the truth of the facts of this absolutely unique and surreal story.
"I don't answer questions from journalists thrown around that wouldn't do justice to the truth of my story."
De Lio, who now says she works as a freelance journalist, claims to have documents that prove her side of things, but it looks like we’ll have to wait a little longer for any detail from those.
The court had heard that during De Lio’s return to work during a four-month period in 2015, students complained that she was poorly prepared, didn’t bring in textbooks and had a ‘random and improvised’ way of marking their work.
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According to an inspection, some students even staged a strike and refused to attend her classes.
The inspection also claimed she was ‘unprepared’ and ‘inattentive’ while teaching and accused her of being distracted by her phone when she should have been teaching.
Topics: World News, Education
Jess Hardiman