The Minister of Education, Professor Patrick Bianchi, signed the Ordinances on State Exams of the first and second cycle of education and on the procedures for appointing and setting up the Commissions. The Ordinances define the June exams, taking into account the health emergency and its impact on school and country life.
For both the first and second cycle, the exam will have an oral test, in person, which will start from the discussion of a paper whose topic will be assigned to the students by the class council in the months preceding the exam itself. , so that they can carefully look after its developments, supported by their teacher. In the upper secondary school, the paper will cover the disciplines characterizing the field of study.
The Ordinances were signed after being submitted to the opinion of the Higher Council of Public Education, as required by current legislation. The texts are available, from today, on the website of the Ministry of Education, with the relative attachments. The Ministry has made available a special web page with all the materials dedicated to the State Exams. In particular, for the second cycle, the school credit conversion tables for the third and fourth year and for the assignment of the fifth year credit, the main disciplines for each field of study, the evaluation grid of the oral exam are attached. . The Ordinances contain particular provisions dedicated to pupils and pupils with disabilities, with Specific Learning Disorders and with other Special Educational Needs, paying maximum attention to the issue of inclusion. In the coming weeks, a specific safety protocol for the exams will be defined, which will be shared with the trade unions.
The summary sheet of the Ordinances
First cycle exams
The final State Examination of the first cycle of education will take place in the presence (except for different provisions related to the progress of the epidemiological situation) in the period between the end of the lessons and June 30, 2021. The exam includes an oral test starting from the discussion of a paper on a topic that will be assigned to each pupil and each pupil by the class council by next 7 May. The paper will then be sent by the students to the Class Council by the following 7 June.
The paper will consist of an original product, consistent with the theme assigned by the Class Council. It can be made in the form of written text, multimedia presentation, film, artistic or technical-practical production. It will involve one or more disciplines among those foreseen in the study plan. The teachers will accompany female students, supporting and advising them, during the realization of their papers. It will be a shared path that will allow each and everyone to express what they have learned. During the oral exam the levels of mastery of the Italian language, of logic and mathematical skills, of foreign language skills and of skills in Civic Education will be assessed. The final evaluation will be expressed in tenths. It will be possible to get praise.
Admission to the exam will be decided by the class council. With reference to the need to have attended at least three quarters of the personalized annual number of hours, exceptions may be made by the Council itself, taking into account the specific situations due to the epidemiological emergency. In the case of partial or failure to acquire the learning levels in one or more disciplines, the Class Council may decide, with adequate motivation, the non-admission to the exam.
Second cycle exams
The Exam session will start next June 16th at 8.30. The exam includes an oral interview, which will start from the discussion of a paper whose topic will be assigned to each student and to each student by the class councils by next April 30th. The paper will then be sent by the candidate by the following 31 May. There will therefore be a month to develop it. Each student and each student will have the time to take care of it in depth thanks also to the support of a teacher who will accompany this path, helping each candidate to enhance what they have learned.
The thesis will be assigned on the basis of the path taken and the disciplines characterizing the study field, which can also be integrated with contributions from other disciplines, experiences related to the Pathways for transversal skills and orientation or individual skills present in the curriculum of the student. The paper may have different forms, in order to take into account the specificity of the different study fields, the planning of the scholastic institutions and the characteristics of the student in order to enhance the peculiarities and the personalized path taken.
The disciplines characterizing the curriculum were published today together with the ordinances. There will be, for example, Latin language and culture and Greek language and culture for the classical high school, Mathematics and Physics for the scientific high school, Foreign language and culture 1 and Foreign language and culture 3 for the linguistic high school. And again, Human Sciences for the High School of Human Sciences, Painting Disciplines for the Artistic High School with specialization in graphic arts, Business Economics for the Technical Institute in the Economic Sector, Administration, Finance and Marketing, Multimedia Design and Technical Laboratories for the Institute. Technological sector technician address Graphics and communication, Laboratory of tourist reception services and Law and administrative techniques of the accommodation facility for the professional institute address Services for food and wine and hotel hospitality Articulation Tourist reception. All other disciplines are published on the Ministry website.
After the discussion of the paper, the interview will continue with the discussion of a text already studied in the teaching of Italian language and literature, with the analysis of materials (a text, a document, an experience, a problem, a project) prepared by the commission with discussion of conceptual nodes characterizing the various disciplines. There will be space for the exposure of the experience carried out in the PCTO (Pathways for transversal skills and orientation). During the interview, the candidate will demonstrate that he has acquired the skills and knowledge required in the field of civic education. The indicative duration of the interview will be 60 minutes.
The academic credit will be awarded up to a maximum of 60 points, of which up to 18 for the third class, up to 20 for the fourth class and up to 22 for the fifth class. Up to 40 points will be awarded with the oral exam. The final evaluation will be expressed in hundredths, it will be possible to obtain honors.
In conducting the interviews, the information contained in the student's curriculum will be taken into account, which includes the academic career, but also the activities carried out in other areas, such as sports, volunteering and cultural activities. The number of candidates who take the interview cannot exceed 5 per day; the order of convocation of candidates will be according to the alphabetical letter established on the basis of the draw by the individual commissions.
The admission of candidates will be arranged by the Class Council in the final ballot. Participation in the national Invalsi tests, which in any case will be held, will not be a requirement for access, and it will be the scholastic institutions that will establish any exceptions to the requirement of attendance, foreseen for three quarters of the individual timetable. There is also an exception to the amount of hours provided for the Pathways for transversal skills and orientation, which is also not an entry requirement. The Commission will be internal, with the President external.
The Ordinance on the second cycle also refers to the rules for external candidates, who will take the preliminary test in May, and in any case no later than the end of the lessons, in order to access the June exam. For external candidates, the schools of the national education system to which they are assigned are the examination centers.