“I wish my sincere good luck to the over 46 thousand Sicilian students taking their final exams from tomorrow. They face this moment as the conclusion of a journey and as the start of another phase, that of higher education or entry into the world of work with a knowledge base and a critical spirit acquired during the years spent at school and which constitute an asset indispensable staff”. The president of the Sicilian Region Renato Schifani says this while addressing the students of the island’s secondary schools who this year will take the state exam tests starting from Wednesday 19 June.
“You, our young people, are the main resource of this land”
The governor of the island continues: “It will be a transition to be experienced with commitment, but also with serenity and with an eye to the future. You, our young people, are the main resource on which this land can and must bet to grow with increasingly solid foundations based on knowledge, competence, merit, respect for the rules and solidarity. Ad maiora.”
The 2024 high school leaving exams in Sicily
In Sicily there are thousands of students who will take their high school diploma this year. On the island there are 46,292 young people from high schools, state technical and professional institutes (41,952) and private schools (4,340) who will take the first written test of the state exam for the 2023 school year on Tuesday 19 June, at 8.30 am. 2024. Last year there were 48,580 candidates, 2,288 more than this year. This was announced by the Regional School Office for Sicily.
The methods of the first written test
The procedures for the first written test are identical in all institutes with a duration of six hours. The second written test is scheduled for Thursday 20 June. For the Esabac and Esabac techno sections, a third written test is required. The exams will conclude with multidisciplinary oral interviews.
The commissions are made up of internal and external commissioners and chaired by an external president. In Sicily there are 1,318 commissions, of which 333 in Palermo, 285 in Catania, 155 in Messina, 122 in Agrigento, 112 in Syracuse, 109 in Trapani, 79 in Ragusa, 76 in Caltanissetta, 47 in Enna.
The data of Sicilian candidates
Of the 46,292 Sicilian candidates – 44,679 internal and 1,613 external – 23,009 will take the test in high schools, 14,469 in technical institutes and 7,928 in professional ones.
Of the almost 42 thousand students graduating from state schools, Palermo and Catania are the provinces in which the greatest number is concentrated, with 9,948 (there were 10,168 last year) and 9,537 (9,821 in 2023) young people respectively. Followed by Messina with 5,020 (5,207 in 2023), Trapani 3,898 (4,023 in 2023), Agrigento 3,896 (4,050 in 2023). In Syracuse and its province, 3,253 will present themselves (3,375 in 2023), Caltanissetta 2,529 (there were 2,733 in 2023), Ragusa 2,548 (2,715 in 2023) and finally Enna 1,323 (same number of candidates as last year).
More candidates in scientific high schools
Among the high schools, this year too, the scientific one has the highest number of graduates (6,381), followed by classical (3,951), linguistics (3,043), human sciences (3,038), scientific option applied sciences (2618), human sciences option social economic (1,124), scientific – sports section (504), high school of figurative arts, plastic-pictorial (489).
301 students from the music section of the musical and dance high school and 77 from the three-year dance section will take the State Exam.
Among the technical institutes, the administration, finance and marketing branch has the highest number of graduates (2,754) to which must be added the 1,805 from the corporate information systems branch, followed by tourism with 1,828, information technology and telecommunications branch with 1,788.
The peak among professional institutes is found in the food and wine and hotel hospitality sector with 3,803 graduates. This is followed by: maintenance and technical assistance with 853 candidates; food and wine services and hotel hospitality – food and wine branch with 619 candidates; agriculture, rural development, valorisation of local products and management of forest and mountain resources with 486 candidates.
