7 Million Students to Return to Italian Schools With New Regulations
Rome: The start of the new school year in Italy is set to commence for nearly seven million students, ranging from preschool to high school, along with one million teachers. The academic year will kick off in the autonomous province of Bolzano on Monday, September 8th. Following this, the autonomous province of Trento, Piedmont, Veneto, and Valle d’Aosta will begin classes two days later, with Friuli Venezia Giulia starting on September 11 and Lombardy on September 12.
According to Ansa News Agency, most regional governments have scheduled the school reopening for Monday, September 15th. This includes regions such as Abruzzo, Basilicata, Campania, Emilia-Romagna, Lazio, Liguria, Marche, Molise, Sardinia, Sicily, Tuscany, and Umbria. The final regions to resume classes will be Puglia and Calabria, on September 16th.
In addition to the staggered start dates, several new regulations will be in place as schools reopen. A significant change this year is the prohibition of cell phones during lessons across all school levels. This follows a June circular from the Ministry of Education, which extends the existing ban to high school students.
Other notable changes include new rules regarding behavior grades. Students who receive a grade of 5 in behavior will have to repeat the year, and those with a grade of 6 will need to pass a citizenship values test to be promoted. The conduct grade will now contribute to the overall school year average and influence credits for the final exam.
Suspension policies have also been updated. Students suspended for up to two days will engage in activities addressing the behavior that led to the suspension. Longer suspensions will require participation in supportive citizenship activities at approved facilities.
Additionally, new guidelines on civic and interpersonal education, along with increased sanctions for aggression against school staff, have already been enacted for the 2024-2025 school year. Education Minister Giuseppe Valditara has announced changes to the final exams, particularly the oral exam, which will become multidisciplinary. Students refusing to take the oral exam will fail, and modifications to the second subject-specific written exam are also anticipated.
Parents are also taking note of the financial impact, as they search for discounted books due to annual increases by publishers, despite unchanged curricula. This practice of updating textbooks forces families to purchase new editions each year.