During the first few years that I’ve been living in Rome, I went to a school near my home to learn Italian. This building is a functioning elementary school so, while our classes were held, the school children would be doing their classes ongoing.
Apart from Italian, there are also other courses that you could do here and they are all government subsidized. I remember having to pay less than 20 euros in total for lessons 2 hours a day, twice weekly lasting for about 6 months. Dirt cheap right?
I remember my lessons to be enjoyable (but it really depends on how lucky you are in getting a good teacher) as well as beneficial as a stepping stone in communicating with Italians. While I did take lessons before migrating here, being completely immersed is a different ballgame altogether.
I’ve stopped taking lessons there since last year as the lessons covered up to levels A2/B1 and was getting a little easy for me (Did I just say that? WOW! Haha!) moreover, the timings clashed with my then working stint.
In any case, recently, I was walking to a pharmacy and to get there, you’d have to pass by the school. By chance, I noticed my former Italian teacher having a break and we had a quick chat.
Anyway, after we said our goodbyes, I passed by the parking area of the school and I noticed an Asian lady coming out of a huge-ass-expensive-looking car. She was dressed nicely – ankle boots, trim tailored trousers, well fitting, possibly designer jacket and she was wearing sunnies and swishing her meticulously wavy hair.
Two thoughts came into my mind :
- She must be going for Italian classes
- Why is a rich woman going for subsidized classes?
I understand that everyone – be they rich or poor has the right to education. I just find it odd how anyone would flaunt (accidental or not) their monetary status in a public aided place.