Occupation of the Des Ambrois school in Oulx on 5 November 2026
Date of the event:
On 5 November 2026, students at the Des Ambrois State Higher Education Institute in Oulx, in the Susa Valley, occupy the school and suspend teaching activities to protest the fact that work on the institute's new gymnasium has still not started, the building having lacked one ever since the school was inaugurated in 2009.[1][2]
How the occupation unfolded
From around 7:30 am on Thursday 5 November, the institute is occupied by students. The school informs families of the situation in a notice signed by headteacher Emanuele Pennini, stating that it does not allow for the regular running of lessons or the normal functioning of the institute. Students who join the occupation are marked as absent, while those who do not wish to take part are directed to the institute's green area, supervised by teaching staff, where they can register their presence and be recorded as present under supervision. Teachers state that they cannot guarantee supervision of the occupying students or the safekeeping of their personal belongings and other items in the occupied areas. School management handles the formal procedures and notifications to the relevant authorities, including the police and the Metropolitan City of Turin, which owns the school buildings, to report the situation and request action within their respective remits.[2]
The reasons for the protest
The protest stems from the gymnasium never having been built at Des Ambrois, a secondary institute combining a sports-focused lyceum and a vocational school, inaugurated in 2009 with a 10-million-euro investment by the then Province of Turin, later the Metropolitan City of Turin. The school building was built without a gymnasium because the chosen site, near the Lago Borello nature reserve, is subject to environmental restrictions that left no room for a sports facility on the land allocated to the school.[1]
The state of the project on the eve of the protest
By late October 2026, work on the new gymnasium had still not begun. Asked by the Valsusa Oggi newsroom on 30 October 2026, the Metropolitan City of Turin stated that the detailed design would be ready by the end of the year and that it would announce it once complete. Pending the new facility, the Municipality of Oulx and the Metropolitan City formalised, in early October 2026 (Determination no. 68 of 1 October 2026), the renewal of the usage concession for the old municipal gymnasium at Pra Long, on corso Ortigara, until the 2028/2029 school year, with an annual fee of 32,000 euros borne by the Metropolitan City, totalling 96,000 euros over three years.[1]
Related articles: Istituto Des Ambrois
Sources
- Valsusa Oggi — 30 October 2026
- Valsusa Oggi — 5 November 2026