Institutional portal - Municipality of Milan

Milan, 4 April 2020 - The health emergency caused by the spread of Covid-19 encourages municipalities to imagine new methods and forms of communication to remain close even to the youngest citizens who have not been to school for several weeks. 

The Municipality of Milan has started a trial via an online platform to stay in touch with children who attend 0-6 services and with their families.

It is not about online teaching, lessons or an appointment at fixed times or in streaming, given the age of the recipients and the need not to be invasive, in an already very delicate moment, but a way to remain close to the children and to the girls who, with the sudden closure of schools, have suffered an abrupt separation from the places of their daily life. The rhythms and moments for connecting will therefore be decided by each family.

Videos with tutorials, songs, readings of fairy tales, photos: these are some of the initiatives that the 3.200 educators of the Municipality, who have completed online training in recent days, are offering to families. This is not unique content for the whole city, but each of the 68 educational units into which the Milanese system is divided has its own online bulletin board available on the platform in which to upload videos, photos and documents. 

The tool, launched on an experimental basis, is however to be considered in addition and not as an alternative to other communication methods that educators have already implemented in many services. 

Each family received a communication with how to access the platform and a communication regarding privacy. If someone has not received the email, they can request the individual password for access from the managers of the relevant educational unit.

The section dedicated to nursery schools has been designed above all for children, while the nursery section will be aimed mainly at parents, with spaces dedicated to support and pedagogy. The platform will be accessible to everyone through a simple smartphone.