They return the proof Invalsi, the school-work alternation and the trace of history among the topics of the first written exam in Italian. Goodbye to the draw entrusted to the students among the three sealed envelopes at the time of the oral exam. Also this year the revolution of the high school exam is taking place which will see protagonists around 500 thousand students who attend the fifth grade of high school. The news for the 2019/2020 year was announced by the Minister of Education, University and Research, Lorenzo Fioramonti.
MATURITY: THE INVALSI TEST
For the purposes of admission of candidates to the State exam for the current school year, in addition to the requirement of school attendance and academic performance, the requirement of participation, during the last year of the course, in the tests at a national nature prepared by INVALSI - the tests in Italian, mathematics and English which will take place from 2 to 31 March 2020 - and that of carrying out the activities scheduled as part of the paths for transversal skills and orientation, according to the number of hours foreseen by the field of study: at least 90 hours in high schools in the last three years, at least 150 in technicians, at least 210 in professionals.
The obligation to take the Invalsi test was already envisaged by the Good School law, but the former Northern League minister Marco Bussetti had postponed its application for a year. Now, although Fioramonti himself has always been critical of the introduction of the test, he commented: “I have opened a critical reflection on the Invalsi tests but I play the role of minister with prudence and responsibility. There are legal passages to be respected. Personally I remain of the opinion that these tests should be rethought: they can be useful for highlighting the fragility of our education system. In any case, their results will not affect admission to high school in any way”.
MATURITY', THE WRITTEN TEST: THE HISTORY THEME RETURNS
A trace of history must be present among the three traces of "typology B", the typology that asks students to analyze and produce an argumentative text, and it will no longer be the technical commission of the MIUR that prepares the tests for the high school diploma to be able to choose whether to give space to the historical sphere rather than to other fields.
“There has been a mobilization of intellectuals which has opened an important debate on the role of teaching history in the education of our children. The school is not a closed world, but permeable to the ideas and proposals of civil society. Also proposing a historical trace in the written test of Italian does not change the exam, it offers one more possibility. An important possibility that confirms the value of knowledge of the past to better prepare for the future”, explained Minister Lorenzo Fioramonti.
MATURITY, ORAL EXAMINATION: GOODBYE TO THE DRAW OF THE THREE ENVELOPES
The other novelty concerns the interview. From the reform, the thesis written by the student and from which the oral interview could start had been eliminated and three envelopes had been introduced: the candidate had to choose one and from there the comparison with the commissioners started. According to the latest ministerial directives, this draw has been eliminated and, therefore, the interview will start from the student's analysis of the materials prepared by the exam commission in a special work session and proposed by the president, with the aim of "verify the acquisition of the contents and methods of the individual disciplines, the ability to use the acquired knowledge and to connect them to argue in a critical and personal way even using the foreign language".
“We have made a course correction, with only formal interventions and which therefore respect the structure of the interview and the organization of the preparation times of the young people. The envelope system takes time and resources. I thought of lightening the work of the commissions so that they can devote themselves better to the actual exam”, explained Fioramonti.
The final exam for this school year will start Wednesday 17 June 2020.
“The Maturity exam is a fundamental step not only in study but also in life. It follows the coming of age, accompanies the entry into adulthood. I wholeheartedly suggest to graduates that they prepare themselves as best they can, that they face study with passion. As with passion I wish everyone to face life”, concluded the minister.
