It will be twofold: Education and research. This has been solemnly proclaimed by the head of government: the country must stand out worldwide for its high level educational, and from now on this must be its international brand image. The various parties that make up the government coalition have set to work to give concrete expression to this programmatic orientation. In a context of economic crisis, all ministries will see their budget allocation reduced, except for Education, which will increase it by four billion euros. The expense at Education and research will be increased to ten percent of GDP. This will be the substance of the new policy, but as this strategy will also have to be "sold" to the public, a slogan is being sought for its launch. At the moment, there is some hesitation between "Innovation", "The country of Education" or "Growth through Education". They are not particularly original, but the question of the slogan is certainly rather incidental: it is better to spend money on truly educational actions rather than on simple image campaigns.

I am sorry to disappoint the reader: we are not talking about our country, but about Germany (that is why we must correct the accredited specialization to the head of government: it should read "the Federal Chancellor"). The news I am picking up refers to the talks between the CDU, the CSU and the FDP liberals for the training of the new government, which will succeed the grand coalition of CDU/CSU and SPD. This commitment to Education is not based on nostalgic criteria, it is not just a matter of recovering the once brilliant German cultural tradition, when Germany had the best university in the world. Beyond nostalgia, there is a very pragmatic and utilitarian calculation: the federal government understands that the best way to overcome the current economic prostration lies in a firm commitment to Education. I will not bore the reader with the fine print of this agreement, since the entire educational activity, from kindergarten to post-doctorate, will be affected, but I will mention at degree scroll as an example that in order to reinforce its effectiveness, the two current ministries of Education and research will be integrated into a single ministry. It has also happened in Germany that ministries have been "chopped up" for the imperatives of distributing positions to friends or allies, and it is never too late to rectify previous mistakes.

The comparison with our country is as eloquent as it is disheartening. If the budget forecast advanced by the government is confirmed, the cut to research will be considerable (-18.9% in "development and Military Innovation" and -3.1% in "development and Civil Innovation"), which has aroused the concern of our researchers. Here too, there is an official speech proclaiming the need for research and development+i if we are to improve productivity and be competitive in the international arena. In the wake of Bologna and the European Space educational , rarely has there been so much talk about quality, innovation, competitiveness, employability and other topics of educational rhetoric. Even from time to time, the need for a State pact is re-emphasized at Education, which would put an end to the legislative back-and-forth in accordance with the alternation of power. The symptoms that testify to the deterioration of our Education are becoming more acute day by day, but very little is being done to tackle their causes (for example, what good will it do to decree that teachers are public authorities? Is this fact alone going to change the climate in our schools? One must be naïve to expect the solution to our ills with proposals like this subject).

When our governments do not have weighty arguments to justify their policies, they usually invoke the example of our neighboring countries, with which it would be convenient to be homologated: if one lacks personality and an own goal , Vicente always has the resource to go where the people go. We have a very close case in the reform of the abortion law currently underway: in the end, the argument that the government clings to seems to be precisely the example of our European neighbors. If we are going to lead a mimetic existence, why not imitate them also in their attention to educational policy?