Transcript Document

Istituto Comprensivo Arenella - Palermo
THE ITALIAN
SCHOOL SYSTEM
COMENIUS 1.3 – 2005/2006
“Welfare at school”
Stages of education
Curricular control and content
Distribution of responsibilities
Financing
Teachers’ Training
Comenius 1.3 - 2005/2006 -
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Stages of Education
Pre-primary
education
Compulsory
education
Upper secondary
education
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Pre-primary education
Day-care centres are available for children up
to the age of 3.
From then on, children can attend nursery
school, which is the first stage of the schooling
system. Nursery schools are free of charge.
In school year 2003-2004 pre-primary education
is available for children who reach 3 years of
age before 28 February 2004.
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Compulsory education
Scuola primaria (primary school)
Age 6–11
Scuola secondaria di I grado (lower
secondary school)
Age 11–14
Children should be aged 6 to attend primary school.
In school year 2003-2004 primary education is available for
children who reach 6 year of age before 28 February 2004.
From the 1999/2000 school year, education is compulsory
between the ages of 6 and 15, thus including the first year of
upper secondary school.
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Upper secondary education
Classical education
Liceo classico (classical upper secondary school)
Age 14-19
Liceo scientifico (scientific upper secondary school)
Artistic education
Liceo artistico (artistic upper secondary school)
Age 14-18
Istituti d’arte (art schools)
Age 14–17/19
Technical education
Istituto Tecnico (technical school)
Age 14–19
Vocational education
Istituto professionale (vocational school)
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Age 14–17/19
Length of the school day/week/year
The school year comprises about 200 days between
the beginning of September and the end of June.
Schools open five or six days, full or half days,
depending on the institution.
Primary and secondary schools offer from a minimum of
27 to 40 hours of teaching a week. The length of
lessons is usually 60 minutes.
The minimum number of annual teaching hours is 891
plus: at primary level 99 additional hours for the
organisation of learning optional activities and at lower
secondary level 198 additional hours.
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Curricular control and content
The general curriculum is nationally determined and adapted to local
needs by each school.
At primary level, the core curriculum comprises Italian, a foreign
language, mathematics, sciences, humanities, social studies, ICT,
art, music and physical education. Religious education is an optional
subject.
At lower secondary level, a second foreign language, Civil Studies
and technical education is added. Teachers select teaching
methods, textbooks and materials.
At upper secondary level, central government determines basic
curricula for each type of education and gives guidance on teaching
methods. Core subjects common to all institutions are Italian, history,
a modern foreign language, mathematics and physical education.
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Distribution of responsibilities
Education in Italy has traditionally been centrally
administered. Since the end of the 1950s responsibilities
and services have gradually been decentralized; in 1972
many of the State's administrative powers over education
were transferred to the local authorities - regions,
provinces and communes. Education policy, however,
remains centralized, and all schools - state, or private must conform to national laws.
The overall responsibility for education is in the hands the
Ministry of Education.
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The Ministry of Education
Local authorities
Institutions
School
Council
Principal
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Assembly
"Welfare at school"
Class
Council
The Ministry of Education
It has general responsibility for the supervision and coordination of
all educational activities, and issues legislation to this effect.
It is involved in the planning, study and promotion of education, and
the general supervision of all educational institutions.
It issues general guidelines on curricula and assessment and sets
the final examinations at upper secondary levels.
It promotes curriculum and syllabus changes and authorizes
experimentation affecting the curriculum and teaching hours.
It directly administers (through provincial offices) arrangements
concerning the budget and the recruitment and mobility of staff and
promotes in-service teacher training.
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Local authorities
All regions have their own legislative and administrative responsibilities
within the general guidelines set out in state laws. In collaboration with
other local authorities:
 they plan the establishment and construction of new schools or
improvements to existing structures and administer funds received
from the State for this purpose;
 they organize medical and psychological support services for
pupils and measures to make it possible for all pupils to complete
compulsory education and, as appropriate, continue their studies;
the regions are responsible for vocational education, training and
guidance outside upper secondary schools and universities.
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Institutions
In recent years, administrative powers have gradually
been decentralized to individual schools and
colleges, which all have administrative autonomy as
regards administrative, operating and teaching
expenses covered by funds allocated annually. In
each institution, administrative functions are carried
out by the School Council (Consiglio di istituto) and
the Principal (Preside).
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The School Council
The School Council is responsible for budgetary matters
and for the organization and planning of non-educational
school activities.
Within the limits of the budget and law, it deliberates the
purchase, renewal and maintenance of school equipment
and teaching materials and decides on the use of premises
and equipment, on extracurricular and sports activities, on
remedial and support courses and on cooperation with
other schools.
The School Council is made up of representatives elected
by teaching and non-teaching staff, parents and, in upper
secondary schools, pupils.
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Principals
Head teachers or principals are responsible for representing the school in the
outside world and for management, supervision and discipline within the
school.
They coordinate all school activities and are responsible for compliance with
legislative provisions;
they implement the decisions of the School Council, organize the school
internally, i.e. timetable, formation of classes, allocation of teachers, and decide on
disciplinary measures for pupils;
they promote or coordinate training activities for teaching and non-teaching staff;
they are responsible for the recruitment of temporary teachers for less than one
academic year.
Head teachers are assisted in their duties by one or more colleagues from the
teaching staff depending on the size of the school, and are directly responsible to
the Provincial Directors of Education.
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Teachers' Assembly
The Teachers' Assembly is composed of all the permanent and temporary
teachers of each school and is chaired by the principal
It formulates teaching and educational plans for each school year,
taking into account specific local requirements, national guidelines and
state legislation, and decides on types of interdisciplinary coordination
while respecting the freedom of teaching of each teacher.
It periodically evaluates teaching to check that it conforms to the
planned objectives and proposes improvements when necessary.
It also selects textbooks and teaching materials, in consultation with
the Class Councils, and makes proposals concerning the organization
of the school and in-service teacher training.
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Class Council
The Class Council is composed of teachers of the same
class and four elected parents' representatives, two of whom
are replaced by two pupils' representatives at upper
secondary level.
The Inter-Class Council consists of the teachers of all the
parallel classes and one elected parent for each class in
primary school.
They formulate educational and teaching plans for the
class, check the progress of teaching and discipline in the
class,organize supplementary and extramural activities and
carry out the periodical and final assessment of pupils
(there are no external examinations).
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Financing
With regard to public education, the state funds the central and
local offices of the Ministry of Education, the salaries and the
initial and in-service training of teaching and non-teaching staff in
compulsory education and most upper secondary schools, and the
management of schools' teaching materials. Most funds are
transferred to the provincial offices or to individual schools.
Regions have particular powers as regards school buildings,
vocational education, training and guidance, school transport,
school meals and the supply of textbooks free of charge, but these
powers are usually delegated to the provinces and communes.
The provincial and communal authorities cover the cost of
building schools.
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Private Education
The approval of the bill concerning the equal status of
State and State-recognised schools (scuole paritarie)
(March 2000) aims to provide measures to support
parents of children and school-aged young people
regardless of whether they are enrolled in a State school
or attend a State-recognised institution, in order to ensure
the right to education and promote the expansion,
diversification and integration of education delivered within
the public education and training system.
State financial support for private institutions amounts to
approximately 20% of the total income.
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Teacher training
Initial teacher training is submitted to
changes at the moment.
Till now:
• PRIMARY SCHOOL teachers have
attended a specific upper secondary
school. They are generalists but
assume responsibility for a subject
area (linguistic, mathematic or
anthropologic areas). They teach 22
hours per week + 2 hours of planning
work
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•SECONDARY SCHOOL
teachers can teach at both
lower secondary or at upper
secondary level.
They have a university degree
(4 years at least) and they are
specialists.
They teach 18 hours per week
+ 80 hours per year of planning
work and general meetings.
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All of them have to pass a
competitive exam to obtain
a qualification as “teacher”.
Then, they work directly for
the Ministry of Education,
University and Research.
All teachers in public schools
are civil servants.
They are assigned to a certain
school from a central system.
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Teachers generally work for 35 years; till the age of
60 for women and 65 for men.
There is no difference between “new” and “old”
teachers and there are no promotions.
Length of service is the main factor taken into
account in determining salary increases.
The basic salary may be accompanied under certain
special circumstances by various forms of additional
earnings.
They include the payment of overtime and additional
responsibilities.
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SALARY ADJUSTMENTS
By overtime is meant time spent working which exceeds the number of
working hours specified in the contract and for which teachers receive
an additional payment in return.
Overtime may occur on a temporary basis or regularly throughout the
year.For example, it may involve the temporary replacement of a
colleague on leave or the allocation throughout the year of a teaching
load that exceeds the amount of teaching specified as the norm.
Additional remunerated responsibilities may vary greatly. Most
common among them are supervisory duties, participation in school
management, the provision of advice or support to other teachers, and
the organisation of teaching materials or responsibilities in the area.
Some teachers, can choose to accept the responsibility of becoming
“coordinator” of the school general planning.
In these cases they receive a salary bonus.
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