The Italian reform of the Educational system: debates and forms of mobilization
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The Italian reform of the Educational system is part of the big European frame of school reforms.
The Lisbona target: “ To make Europe the most competitive market within 2010” is affecting the whole school system.
We can resume the main scholastic reforms ongoing in Italy in two parts:
- The primary school reform: the old, and partially still working, system was based on 5 years of school, copresence of 2 teachers per class plus one of support in case of disabled or stranger pupil. School time of 40 weekly hours, or so called “full time” with many additional disciplines and laboratory such as: gardening, music, painting, psico-motricity, IT, chemical, new technologies. Evaluation system based on the relational level with many competences, full school autonomy.
The Moratti reform will erase the copresences, the support for disabled and strangers, appointing a single teacher called “tutor”, the weekly time reduced to 27 hours.
The evaluation will focus on a “competences portfolio” which will replace the old evalution sheets with a personal dossier which will follow the pupil till the age of 12, including the 3 years of the second cycle of primary school.
At the end of the 8 years, kids aged between 12 and 13 shall choose their future: going to lyceum or professional school, they will make themselves upper-medium class or low class that time, unfortunatelly the portfolio will be the tool to identify the attitudes of the students, telling to the families what could be the right formation for them, university or working, and will split the society in two.
- Secondary school of 2nd grade: currently lyceums and professional schools are valid to gain access to the univeristy, both have duration of 5 years and there is no discrimination between them.
The Moratti reform will split the schools in two, intorducing the concept of dual channel, one propapedeutic to university other one terminal: techinical, classic and scientific lyceums for 5 years with access to university; professional schools duration of 4 years with no access to university, formally defined as “terminal school”. In addition to that the professional schools will have a different time system: 75% of hours in classes, 25% stages at private companies.
Workers aged from 15 could use the time spent working as “formative credit” that will lead to gain the “professional degree”
The new law will replace the obligation to study with right/duty to formation, a subtle definition in order to hide a very dangerous change in the educational system.
Above is unbelievable, they are putting schooling and working on the very same level, the target is evident: to create a low cost working class with major profits for private companies.
- University: Italy have been using the 3+2 system so far, they are late because the governement is not yet ready to issue a new law, there have been few conferences here and there, but no reform draft have been introduced.
The movement, born in 2003, has opposed a strong resistence, the past year we have been able to block the primary school reform, this year we are still struggling against the new law with the result that the reform is extremely late in the application.
We have been feeling that in order to strenghten our forces we had to merge with the opponets of the second cycle reform, and so we did with extraordinary result and full impact on the media.
There are many debates undergoign, from april, due to the political “revolution” after the regional elections where the left took 12 out of 14 regions, the range of matters has spreaded over Italy.
The main points under discussion are:
o The secondary school of 2nd grade reform which have gathered many new opponents under our movement: the teachers have started the protest, it may be they are son of 1968, which is true partially, but there is a big concern on the new society that could be created if the law will be implemented: a two level society, a small one with superior educational level, and degree, a big one composed by different level of education ranging from almost-Lyceum edu level to workers with low-grade edu level. The reform will credit labour as educational credits. Those are the material effects of the reform, what is in discussion is the freedom of choice, today you can acces University regardless of your secondary school path, it will be the student ability, will and perseverance which will lead to univeristy degree. Tomorrow there will be paramthers of judice in opposition to the principle of freedom: if your tutor has been benevolent you will get a positive portfolio profile, which will follow the pupil form 5 years age till 12 or 13 collecting all but the individuality, the final evaluation will draw the educationl future: lyceum and university or terminal professional school.
o The cuts of school human and financial resources: first they have cut some 10% of persons dismantling the full time structural system of the primary school, it will be almost impossible to pursue a system which allow everybody to reach a quality level of education, if you have a consolidated package of education from the primary school than the rest of your education will come naturally, the preoccupation is that a notionistic, quiz-based education compressed on 27 weekly hours instead of 40, will lead to a competitive relationship among student and teachers and within mates as well. The flow of money given to the school is drying year after year, the Italian governement has given 10 times the amount of money for war against Iraq then to the school in the past 12 months. The purpose of the governement is to charge the family for the so called additional activity which are very important in order to get a wide cultural package.
o The future after Univeristy: the 3+2 system is incomplete because ofter 5, or more, years of university the alternatives are poors. The choice to stay in the Univeristy is rare: researchers are leaving for other countries, Italy does not offer a stable job for them, precariousity is the word. The public support is simply insignificant, private companies are not R&D minded, the budget for research is a concept almost unknow among italian investors. There are examples, medicine these days, of a young talent eye surgeon which will migrate to US University because they have funded two projects, he declared to have paid with his money what he needed to develop his research. The government has not yet issued even a draft law for them.
The struggle against the reform has lead to an extrardinay result: to gather under the same flag teachers, parents, students, workers, unions and students association, with the same motivation: to cancel the Moratti reform.
In such an heterogeneous mixture of minds, the ability to uncover all the reform hidden sides has been extremely high.
Many debates have been crossing each other, involving unions and teachers or parents and politicians, most of the times the debates ended with all hands involved.
We have attained so many things with a kind of spontaneus mobilization, which is the real core of the movement, the same motivation has given us the force to oppose a strong resistance to every single act of the reform.
The movement is horizontal, there is no form of structure neither a leading group, the issues are discussed in assembly, but what is issued is only an ideological document, everyone still remain free to implement action within the term of legality.
There are examples of parents reporting to the authorities law infringiments done by School Managers , there were many teachers which have occupied the school on april 14th to protest against the secondray school reform, there are weekly assembly in every school active against the reform, many forums and operative mailing lists.
Communication is very well organized, the result is that the action is immediate and very effective.
The mobilization of many persons around Italy is not simple, again motivation is the real strenght, mass could come later.
At the end the best form of mobilization is that many different kind of people are acting under a common objective, leaded by the same view of a free and equal society, that consider education as the main pillar of life.
