(Finance) – New green light from the Council of Ministers al decree to speed up the implementation of the NRP. The school package with the reform of teacher recruitment and training.
Certain paths for those who want to teach, a clearer definition of the objectives and methods of training teachers throughout their career, annual competitions to constantly recruit staff, opening the doors to young people more quickly. These – underlines the Ministry of Education – are the three pillars of the reform approved today by the government, which it will bring in the chair, by 2024, the first 70 thousand teachers. The decree-law on the NRP also provides for the new Higher Training School for Ata managers, teachers and staff (administrative, technical and auxiliary).
“Today we take a further step forward to give stability to the education system – said the Minister of Education Patrizio Bianchi – we foresee a clear and defined path for access to teaching and for the continuous training of teachers throughout their working life. We focus on training as an element of innovation and greater qualification of the whole system. We also foresee, by 2024, 70 thousand new entries in the role, through competitions that will be announced annually. Teachers are the pivot of our institutes and must have a structured integration framework, the right professional recognition and tools that allow constant updating, which is essential to carry out their task of guiding the new generations. At the heart of this reform is a precise idea of an open and inclusive school, which we are building with the PNRR resources available and with dialogue with all the actors involved “.
There are two main points of the reform. First, we define the modalities of initial training, qualification and access to teaching in secondary school. The following are envisaged: an enabling university course of initial training (corresponding to at least 60 training credits), with a final exam; an annual national public competition; a one-year in-service trial period with final evaluation. The qualifying training course can be carried out after graduation or during the training course in addition to the credits necessary for the achievement of one’s qualification. There is an internship period in schools. The final exam includes a simulated lesson, to test, in addition to the knowledge of the disciplinary contents, the teaching ability. The qualification will allow access to competitions, which will take place annually to cover vacant professorships and to speed up the entry into the role of those who want to teach. The winners of the competition will be hired with a trial period of one year, which will end with an evaluation aimed at ascertaining the teaching skills acquired by the teacher. If successful, there will be entry into the role. While waiting for the new system to become fully operational, direct access to the competition is foreseen for those who have already been teaching for at least 3 years in the state school. The winners will then have to obtain 30 university credits and carry out the qualification test in order to pass the role. During the transitional phase, those who do not already have a three-year course of teaching behind them but want to teach will be able to achieve the first 30 university credits, including the internship period, to access the competition. The winners will subsequently complete the other 30 credits and will take the qualification test to be able to pass the role.
The second point is the new continuing education with the birth of the National School. The in-service training of teachers becomes continuous and structured so as to favor the innovation of teaching models, also in the light of the experience gained during the health emergency and in line with the development objectives of innovative teaching envisaged in the National Plan of Recovery and Resilience. Training on digital skills and on the critical and responsible use of digital tools will be part of the training already mandatory for everyone and will take place within the working hours. An updating and training system is then introduced with a three-year planning that will allow teachers to acquire knowledge and skills to design teaching with innovative tools and methods. This training will be carried out in hours other than working hours and can be paid by the schools if it involves an expansion of the training offer. The paths taken will also be evaluated with the possibility of accessing, in the event of a positive outcome, a salary incentive. The continuous training courses will be defined by the Higher Education School which was established with the reform and will take care not only of adopting specific guidelines on the subject, but also of accrediting and verifying the structures that will have to deliver the courses, to ensure maximum quality. The School, which is part of the Pnrr reforms, will also take care of the training courses for managers and auxiliary, technical and administrative personnel.