A passing maturity, that of 2022, in which it was necessary and wanted to take into account the bitter experience of two years and more of a pandemic, before a new state exam that will see the light in 2023 and that if it cannot to be defined as a “return to normality”, because it knows too much of the past, will be that of “stability”. This explained the Minister of Education, Patrizio Bianchiguest of the videoforum of Republic dedicated to the State Exam and the school of the future.
The minister, answering the questions of the graduates and professors who arrived in the Republic, calmed the students who for months protested against the return of the two papers and the cancellation of the thesis. “This year – said the minister speaking of the maturity which will involve 540 thousand students in 6 days – we wanted to take into account the course of study, a path that is also difficult, not even the hardest part should be forgotten because it is part of the own personal path “.
Italian: “The tracks will be reasonable”
It starts on June 22 with the theme. “That morning I will go to the small bunker under the ministry and I will press the button that will allow all schools to read the 7 tracks”. He asks Matilde Zanarini: “How can we prepare for the topic? Minister, tell us the possible traces”.
To prepare the first paper, “I tell you how I would do it – explains the minister -: I would take a sentence, a topic and begin to think about it, to articulate it, to enter into it to choose the words carefully. Every now and then we tend not to give the right value to all words, instead each word is a kind of monument, has its own history, its own evolution, its own weight, saying them aloud also restores body. So here you have to choose a theme and express yourself and a articulated thought, also rediscovering the taste for words. The traces – assures Bianchi – will be reasonable “.
Maturity 2022, Bianchi: “To prepare, you need to be able to transform reasoning into words”
The changing Maturity: the thesis will return
But next year it will change again. “Let’s go towards what was the ordinary scheme, towards a Maturity that will allow children to express themselves at their best”, but without going back to the exam scheme of the past, of the pre-pandemic. Quote the minister a poem by Antonio Machado (“Caminante no hay camino):” I turn back, look at the footsteps I left and I know that I will never pass through there again. “” We will therefore evaluate whether to return to the mixed commissions with three internal and three external professors “, says the minister .
Another evaluation will be around the second test, which could become national again: “It’s important – he says Bianchi – but in the specific situation of this year I felt it was necessary to give the class councils and teachers the opportunity to verify what had actually been done “.
And again: the essay, which this year disappeared from the oral interview, should reappear next year because, the minister warns, “it is part of the journey back to the relevance of the Maturity exam”. From next year, he explains Bianchiwe will enter the “exam stability phase”.
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The examination without a mask
As for the present, Bianchi defends the choice of the mask until the last, only to drop the obligation, in agreement with the Ministry of Health and the Higher Institute of Health, for examinations. “The decision on the mask was not late – he explains – We decided to keep the masks until the end of the year because there were large numbers. The maturity instead is on small numbers and concerns adults, so we thought it was possible to eliminate the obligation”.
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The new school
A reader, Stefano Querci, solicits a reflection on evaluating students in the exam also on group work, the ability to work in a team. “Reasonable, but within the 50 points that evaluate the route there is also this”. Bianchi relaunches a reflection on the new school: “We are living in a phase where digital predominates, but the school is in the presence. Digital and Dad, however, allow us to connect classes in various countries. We have 30 thousand Ukrainian children in our schools, but just as many are following the courses in the Ukrainian school “.
Numerous classes
Archived the Maturity in September will start again. And on one of the main concerns felt by the school world is the cut from 2026-27 of 11,600 teachers due to the drop in the number of students: one of the expectations is to be able to work with fewer classes. Bianchi he replies: “The problem in our country are the chicks, not the chicken coop classes … Istat data tell us that between 2021 and 2031 we will lose 1.4 million children. And already today, as a regional average, we are beyond below the threshold of 27 pupils per class. The average, however, needs to be detailed: we have the small classes that are already affected by the demographic decline and the last classes of the high schools that are still in an earlier situation. My problem, however, paradoxically, is not a crowded class in the center of Bologna, but the many areas of the country where we need to maintain a school with few children. So we have to ask ourselves how to restore confidence to young couples to have children and how to guarantee adequate teaching aids even in peripheral areas. This also implies the overcoming of closed classes: the school today is very laboratory, both in teaching and in planning. The movement of children is one of the keys of the new school, moving from one classroom to another, from one floor to another “.
“From now to 2026 permanent staff”
insist Bianchi: “If we had made a linear cut in the face of 1.4 million fewer children, the reduction would have been by over one hundred thousand teachers. We have instead maintained our political commitment together with the minister Franco to keep all the resources in the school and the school we are working on is a school where all teachers can become transversal and empowering. From now to 2026 the number of staff remains absolutely fixed and we are using it having in mind that we must guarantee a school in all parts of the country. This will imply that the Municipalities think about the didactic organization of the territory “.
Bianchi: “The school is transformed with full-time PNRR resources, canteens and gyms”
The decree on recruitment: “No to amnesties”
The decree is under discussion in the Senate, it concerns the recruitment, the training of teachers. On recruitment (over 200,000 temporary workers still waiting), the mantra is training. The minister repeats it three times: initial formation, with the involvement of universities and internships in schools; training, “especially digital”, for everyone (“we have a commitment with Europe to train 650 thousand teachers not only in the use of digital, but also in education in the responsibility of its use”); incentivized on accompanying and tutoring activities for young teachers; the training acquired which allows those who have gained experience to participate in a reserved section of the competition. “No to amnesties, they would be offensive – he says in summary – yes to a space dedicated to temporary workers who have already had job opportunities” with direct access to competitions for a share of 30%.
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Pcto: “We will integrate them more with teaching”
Finally, the PCTOs, the old school-work alternation at the center of student protests. “Let’s not confuse PCTOs and professional training courses – the minister points out – PCTOs are neither work activities nor job start-ups: those who have used them in this sense have made a mistake. We will change the name, highlighting the orientation aspect and we will integrate them even more with educational activities. In our idea of an open, inclusive and affectionate school there must be room for safe teaching experiences that are not substitutes for work. Specific professional training activities, on the other hand, are often managed by the Regions and they are real training courses. Here too, it is clear, the safety of our children must be guaranteed and the deaths of young students are intolerable.