The State Exam (Maturity) will begin this morning for 1,340 high school students from Asti.
The first “step” of rapprochement was, on Monday, the establishment of the commissions, made up of six members (three internal and three external) and a president. An establishment often undermined, at a national level, by the difficulty in finding commissioners. «In the Asti area – comments Franco Calcagno, head teacher and president of a commission at the Alfieri classical high school – the inconvenience has been limited thanks to the collaboration with the local school office. For example, both for me and at Artom it happened that one or more commissioners (tenured teachers appointed by the regional school office) were absent due to illness. We then proceeded to appoint new ones among substitutes and teachers who are registered in the specific ranking with the Mad (Making available). This is because the tenured teachers, who are few, were already engaged in other commissions.”
Once the commission is in place, the first “hurdle” will be the written Italian test, decided by the Ministry of Education. The children will be able to choose between six titles relating to three different typologies – text analysis, current affairs and argumentative text – to be completed in a maximum of six hours.
As always in recent days, the race to guess what the topics of the test could be was crazy. For example, regarding the argumentative text, the most widespread hypotheses online were the 100th anniversary of the Matteotti case and the First World War, which this year marks the 110th anniversary of its outbreak. Among the most quoted historical figures was J. Robert Oppenheimer, director of the Manhattan project and “father” of the atomic bomb, born 120 years ago.
The second test
Tomorrow (Thursday) the second written test will be held, specific to each school: for example, Greek at the classical high school and mathematics at the Scientific one. «The differences regarding the second test – explains Maria Stella Perrone, head teacher and president of a examination commission at the “Penna” – involving art high schools and professional institutes. In the first case, in fact, the test lasts three days – Thursday, Friday and Monday – avoiding Saturday so as not to create problems for students who profess religions for which Saturday is considered a day of rest. In the second, however, the test is not defined entirely at central level, but rather partly by the Ministry and partly by the examination commission on the basis of the guidelines established by Rome”.
The interview
The commissions will then be busy correcting the tests, after which the grades will be published and the oral exams will take place. «Like previous years – recalls the manager – these are not questions, but interviews in which we try as much as possible to leave space for the student. The input will be provided by the commission, based on the path followed by the class and the profile of the individual candidate, in the form of suggestion and stimulus through an image, a quote or a newspaper article. The candidate will have to welcome the stimulus by trying to make a fluid speech through connections to the different subjects”.
The interview will not concern the so-called “masterpiece”, introduced by the Ministry on an experimental basis. «It is a student self-assessment tool, a reflection on one’s learning and personal growth path», specifies the manager. «An additional opportunity to be included in the E-portfolio (the digital container with the students’ path, ed.), but which will not be subject to examination».
