A-Infos (en) Italy, FAS, Sicilia Libertaria #461 - Usai 1 - SCHOOL (ca, de, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

Last month was the month of state exams and diplomas for many students; 
a propitious opportunity to pursue some reflections. In 2023, the 
dossier published by Tuttoscuola caused a stir, highlighting one of the 
most disconcerting aspects of the Italian school system: the phenomenon 
of so-called "diploma mills." We're talking about numerous private, 
state-funded schools that were illegally granting "suspect" diplomas to 
over ten thousand students taking the 2022/2023 school-year high school 
diploma exams. For last year's high school diploma exams, given the 
scandal, Minister of Education and Merit Valditara enacted a measure 
against these "diploma mills," aimed at strengthening inspectors' 
oversight of the proper processing of procedures in these schools; while 
maintaining their full support. The ministry had focused, and continues 
to focus, on a strong and reiterated "bad apples" theory, as if fearing 
that the facts that emerged could somehow discredit private schools in 
general. Thus, alongside oversight, financial "support" was offered, 
given the decision to allocate a significant portion of the PNRR funds 
to private schools, to "ensure true educational pluralism," as the 
minister put it.

In short, after the scandal, it almost seems as if the victims are the 
virtuous private schools themselves-the majority, the government 
emphasizes-which therefore require additional funding to guarantee their 
quality service. But what is this quality service?

Aside from the illegal practices that have been sanctioned and are 
subject to sanctions, what are the real prospects for those who enroll 
in a private school? And what are the prospects for those who work there 
as teachers?

The "Smile Schools"

If you explore the websites and especially the social media pages of 
private schools, you'll see a more or less uniform corporate rhetoric, 
based on the myth of the school of smiles, of happiness, where students 
thrive in a peaceful, family-like environment. It's the rhetoric that 
views students-or rather, their parents-as customers, not users. No more 
fear of failing! Teachers always available to accommodate students' 
needs... in short, paradise. A fee-paying paradise, with fees that-for 
high school graduation exams, for example-range between EUR2,500 and 
EUR4,500; so you have to be able to afford it.

There's no getting around it: enrolling in a private school is a 
solution, especially for those who, after failing a state school, 
discover that John Doe or John Doe passed-or obtained a diploma-at one 
of these private schools, and, according to them, without doing much at 
all. But it would be simplistic to think that the entire population of 
private schools fits this stereotype. Indeed, parents often decide to 
enroll children with certain educational needs in these institutions, 
which are undervalued and/or uncertified, in the hope that such a school 
will be more considerate of them; and that they will rediscover their 
"smile." This is the flip side of a failure for state schools, which 
often leaves less "performing" students behind, where there is no SEN 
certification.

A school for all or a "free-for-all"?

And thus another thorny issue arises: the relationship between SEN 
students and private schools. These schools have one "merit," which is 
that they welcome everyone; after all, all it takes is for parents to pay.

However, it is worth highlighting a paradox in the school of inclusion, 
and the distortion that private schools impose on that concept. Public 
schools-both state and private-have made great strides in recent years 
in supporting, recognizing, and caring for all students with recognized 
special educational needs, moving toward inclusive education, beyond 
mere mechanical integration, and valuing all students with their unique 
characteristics.

However, beyond the good intentions on paper, this is increasingly 
turning into a strange form of insidious, self-justifying ghettoization, 
where a SEN certification-stripped of its true meaning, namely, 
encouraging timely and targeted interventions to protect the most 
vulnerable-becomes a "pass" through which teachers and school 
administrators can wash their hands of students with default passing 
grades, thus avoiding any "hassle" with parents. They forget that 
certifications are useful for enhancing each student's personalized 
learning journey, providing them with greater attention.
This is even more evident in private schools, where all families, 
whether students have special educational needs or not, enroll their 
children with the certainty-not even a secret, and indeed encouraged by 
industry leaders-that promotion is guaranteed.

One might ask: is it possible to fail a student in a private school?

The answer to the aforementioned question is yes; but you really have to 
look for it. Just as already happens in state schools, where exemptions 
for absences can be granted, in promoting those who have exceeded the 
maximum limit, the abuse of so-called "post-dated medical certificates" 
has become widespread. These serve as justifications that families 
present at the end of the year to demonstrate their children's medical 
problems. Schools clearly must trust the opinion of a specialist, but 
there are grey areas and unanswered questions: why does that certificate 
often only emerge at the end of the year, when the possibility of 
failure becomes concrete?

Then there are the passing grades achieved, as if by magic, in the final 
exam; a fact we will return to later, when we shed light on the 
situation of teachers in private schools. And, while it's true that 
these circumstances are increasingly common even in class councils of 
state schools, it's undoubtedly a standard practice in the world of 
"make-up years."

In short: how can a student fail a private school? In fact, only in two 
cases: 1) if the student exceeds the maximum number of absences without 
any certificates; 2) if the student commits extremely serious acts that 
force the school's owner to remove the student, even at the cost of 
losing their tuition income.

https://www.sicilialibertaria.it/
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