Education Minister Giuseppe Valditara on Thursday honoured a 13-year-old student who disarmed a 13-year-old student who had pepper-sprayed and stabbed a 66-year-old teacher at a Rome middle school on September 18, saving her from potentially critical injuries.
    "We are proud of you.

You performed a very noble act that does you credit and serves as an example for many young people.
    Actions like yours deserve to be recognized because they hold great educational value," said the Minister of Education and Merit, as he presented a medal of merit at the Ministry to the student of Congolese origin who intervened during the assault on teacher Isabella Marsilio at the Giovanni Verga middle school in the Centocelle district of Rome.
    The boy restrained his 13-year-old classmate who, after spraying the teacher with an irritant, had struck her with a knife, thereby helping to halt the attack.
    "We wanted to award you this medal of merit—just as we have done with other young people who distinguished themselves through courage and generosity—in recognition of the capacity to empathize with others that you demonstrated," Valditara added.
    "Courage and solidarity are fundamental values in a school system that fosters responsibility, respect, healthy relationships, and empathy." Marsilio, the Italian literature teacher who was just starting her final year before retiring, said she stood by her online professions of support for remigration despite her rescuer being of Congolese origin, saying he deserved to be in Italy.
    The assailant, who had viewed violent content on social media, was reported to have attacked Marsilio because she gave him a failing grade.
    Italy is enduring a spate of stabbings or attempted stabbing of teachers by pupils, as well as knife attacks on classmates.
   
   

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