This morning, in the "Sannino-Petriccione" school, in the Ponticelli neighbourhood in Naples, the opening ceremony for the 2015-2016 school year took place, with the presence of the President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, who wanted to send out a strong message by choosing a new place for the ceremony, departing from the consolidated habit of hosting it at the Quirinal Palace (Palace of the President of the Republic).    

The President of CONI, Giovanni Malagò, and the President of the Paralympic Committee, Luca Pancalli, both took part in the event.  The Head of State and the Minister of Education, University and Research, Stefania Giannini, delivered their message to students and teachers, with their best wishes for the new school year. "Education is key to the civic spirit of a Country. You must devote yourselves to growing the hope in building a better world" was one of the key passages of the speech by President Mattarella. The Head of State also emphasised the role of sport in the education of young people. "Sport can help school a lot, as can be seen by champions that are with us today: where there is greater dedication to sport, there is more legality".

President Malagò emphasised the closeness of the Head of State to competitive sports.  "Day after day, President Mattarella demonstrates a real interest and receptiveness for what concerns the world of sport and this makes us proud, his closeness is remarkable and means a lot to us. We went through a lot of criticism with regards to sport in schools, and, as you know, CONI's role in schools is not formally recognised, but we wanted to do our part in all honesty, with efforts that where not only financial in nature, but also organisational and infrastructural".

On the podium, amongst others, there were also champions of the Italian National team, known as the Azzurri ("the Blues"): Rossella Fiamingo, Diego Occhiuzzi and Luca Curatoli (fencing), Clemente Russo and Irma Testa (boxing), Alessandro Velotto (water polo), Giovanni Esposito, Antonio Esposito and Biagio D'Angelo (judo) e Bebe Vio (paralympic fencing).

The athletes recounted their recent feats (above all Rossella Fiamingo and Bebe Vio, who have recently become world champions in their disciplines), looking ahead towards Rio 2016. Clemente Russo also highlighted his personal record: he will be the first Italian boxer - the fourth in the world - to take part in four editions of the Olympic Games.

The event, which opened with the national hymn, was led by Fabrizio Frizzi, who presented different initiatives organised by schools on immigration, integration, justice, social engagement, music and sport. Around 2,000 pupils from schools all over Italy were selected on the basis of projects and learning activities devised with their teachers on the themes of interculture, integration, legal education, participation in school life. During the ceremony, webcam connections were established with nine Italian schools that made an advanced use of technology in teaching. Amongst the celebrities present was actor Flavio Insinna, singer Lorenzo Fragola and astronaut Samantha Cristoferetti.