A task force set up by the Italian education ministry to help teachers during the COVID-19 emergency has brought in "twinning" between schools in wealthier areas and those in ones suffering social problems.

Schools that have for years been experimenting with distance learning are helping out teachers from disadvantaged, outlying areas of the country and cities that are also suffering from deeply rooted social issues. The Giovanni Falcone school of the crime-prone Zen area in the Sicilian city of Palermo has been twinned with the Marymount International School of Rome, for example.