Italy: school during Coronavirus

The school course is organized as follows: kindergarten, with voluntary participation, from 3 to 6 years of age. Elementary school, at the age of 6 years (except for special cases for which one year can be anticipated), lasting 5 years. At the end there are no entrance exams to the next level. Middle school, 3 years; at the end of the three year entrance examination to upper secondary school. High school, lasting 5 years, with various addresses, based on the student's aptitudes. At the end, high school exam which concludes secondary school studies. Access to the university, directly or through admission exams if the degree course is limited; duration from 3 to 5 years. The so-called "short degree" has a duration of 3 years.

After obtaining a degree, in some cases a specialization course or an internship is required to be able to access certain sectors of the world of work. All this being said, for two months now we have been facing an absolutely new and emergency situation regarding the studies of young Italians and, in general, from all over the world. Unfortunately, the schools, as they are structured now, constitute a place of possible contagion of the coronavirus. Classes are often made up of more than 25 pupils and social distancing is absolutely impossible. As for nursery schools, where one of the most important activities consists precisely in teaching children to socialize, the danger is even greater.

Precisely for this reason, one of the first decisions taken to tackle the epidemic was the closure of all schools of all levels and also universities. At first the unexpected holidays were, for all the students, a source of happiness: two weeks of rest during the winter were never given and allowed, according to their judgment, to be able to relax and prepare for the most important part of the study season. Over time, however, and especially with the indefinite renewal of the blocking of the opening of schools, the situation has changed radically.

The students, forced not only not to go to school but also not to be able to leave the house, began to regret the school, the school companies and above all to deal with a preparation made undoubtedly difficult by the lack of teaching in the classroom. The forecast for the continuation of the school year is far from optimistic. There was talk of resuming regular lessons after Easter, then after May 1st, then in mid-May. Today the common thought is that, given the fact that the coronavirus contagions have decreased but not in such a way as to be able to say that they have definitively won the battle against Covid 19, the schools will no longer reopen for the current school year and, if it will be possible, lessons will resume in September.

The problems resulting from this blocking of lessons are immense: from the exams for the students who attend the "terza media" to those who attend the "5a superiore" and who must somehow understand if they can obtain the maturity and therefore access the University. Then there are those who question the regularity of the school year: an Italian law prescribes that a school year can be considered valid only if at least 200 days of lessons have been carried out. To this we must add the great problem derived from the fact that students not engaged in school lessons must stay at home and therefore must be watched and supervised by their parents: but if they work?

The government and the ministerial task force immediately addressed these problems with a constructive spirit, looking for solutions that can mitigate the negative effects of the quarantine on students as much as possible. Bonus for families where the presence of parents is needed to check on their children at home, work benefits for employees who have these problems, reassurance about the regularity of the school year as this is an emergency situation which can therefore bypass the obligation of 200 lesson days. However, many problems remain to be solved: what will the exams look like for the middle school students and above all the high school diploma?

We are now close to the end of the year deadlines and more than 460,000 candidates for the final exam are eagerly awaiting news. To date, the Ministry of Education has foreseen two scenarios: the first, which can be implemented if regular lessons can be resumed by 18 May; the second if, however, this will not be possible and it seems to be the most realistic thing. In the event that students could return to school by May 18, the high school exam would take place with a totally internal commission from the institution and an external commission president; two would be the writings (one foreseen by the Ministry and one prepared by the internal commission) and one oral.

In the case, as has been said most likely, that it is not possible to resume the lessons, the exam would instead be reduced to one large oral exam. It is not yet known whether this maxi oral test can possibly be taken "remotely" with telematic systems. But the problems don't end there. What matters most to the pupils is preparation and, without actual classroom lessons, the situation is very complex indeed. That the Italian school has always been a step backwards with regards to computerization is a fact. The school situation, especially in some areas of Italy, presents us with a very deficient computerization situation.

Both technical and preparation tools needed to enable pupils of all schools, but also teachers, to have adequate computer skills were still missing and still lacking. If this problem was already evident during the normal course of teaching, now that the schools are closed, it is even more serious. Distance teaching could be the optimal solution to provide students with what they need to be able to continue the school year even in an emergency period. Unfortunately, the obstacles are many and not always resolvable in a short time: first of all, the preparation and updating of teachers.

There are too many differences between school and school on this topic; some institutes immediately arranged practically "regular" lessons electronically with the teachers: the times are the same as for ordinary lessons and this allows for an adequate form of preparation. In many, too many, cases, however, this is absolutely not possible. Teachers absolutely unprepared to use the electronic tool and students do not have a PC, tablet and adequate internet connection to be able to connect with online lessons. Perhaps a substantial update is missing for teachers and there is also a lack of political and economic will to solve the problem of the lack of IT aids.

The hope, as always, is that something positive can derive from a drama like this; that in some way the exams can be carried out and that therefore the candidates can receive the right evaluation relative to their five-year course of study; but also that finally our country realizes the extreme importance of the use of new teaching tools and provides as soon as possible to organize the school, teachers and students, in such a way as to be ready to face even particularly emergency situations like the current ones.