We’re here now. Tomorrow, Wednesday 19 June at 8.30, the 2024 Maturity Exam begins. There are 526 thousand students ready to take the First Test: the Italian essay. The Minister of Education and Merit, Giuseppe Valditara, answered the students’ questions on the eve of the State Exam. Valditara wanted to reassure the graduates about the meaning of the tests, also clarifying some doubts that have emerged in recent weeks. This was reported by skuola.net, a portal that also publishes some previews provided by the minister. Traces of written Italian? «Graduate students will find them interesting». Those of the second test, on the specific subjects? “Not particularly difficult, they won’t disturb the average student.” The oral? «It will not be notional, I hope that it will take place in a very dialogical and serene way, in fact it is the recommendation that we also gave to the commissioners».
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During the interview, the minister also addressed his past, as a classical high school student, with a diploma grade of 56/60. Also making a projection on the future of the Maturity exam which, according to him, still makes sense today because it represents a “caesura” between adolescence and adulthood, that is, when one becomes “responsible citizens”. The minister also took the opportunity to definitively clarify some doubts, such as that relating to the student’s Masterpiece, which a good portion of high school graduates – 1 in 2 according to a survey by Skuola.net – believed was connected to the state exam: «A fake news – comments Valditara – which we have always denied. The Masterpiece is rather a tool to make the young person and his teachers understand what his real potential is.” Valditara recalls, in fact, that «reading the papers it was immediately clear that it had nothing to do with the exam. But then the rumor spread that he needed to be prepared for his high school diploma. There were even parliamentarians who attacked the minister, saying that I had first introduced him to the exam and then taken a step back.”
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An imaginative reconstruction, according to Valditara: «The Masterpiece – he underlined – goes hand in hand with the idea of personalizing the school experience. So much so that it should also be prepared in previous years. To highlight the student’s curiosities, dreams and predispositions, and then enhance them. It is a way to bring out the talents of young people. We said it clearly in the December 2022 circular, the one that also introduced the tutor teacher. We never said that the masterpiece would be required as a new final thesis.” Valditara’s advice, regarding agitation, is to leave anxiety aside and enjoy the event: «Your main enemy – he says – is stress. Relax today, you know what you have learned by now. You are exceptional guys, be aware of the value that exists in each of you.” An appeal for serenity which also extends to the oral test, which will not be a “notional exam”. Indeed, Valditara hopes “that everything can be carried out in the most dialogical form and in a climate of serenity”. Translated into practical terms, the commissioners have the right to ask questions on the matters within their competence but at the same time they are invited to bring out “the maturity and acquired awareness” in the interview.
