In the classroom without a mobile phone, off to the first year disconnected

The bell has rung in most Italian schools after the long summer break and the first real disconnected school year has begun: mobile phones have in fact been banned in schools of all levels, including high schools. Pupils returned to class today in Abruzzo, Basilicata, Campania, Emilia Romagna, Lazio, Liguria, Marche, Molise, Sardinia, Sicily, Tuscany and Umbria. The last to return to the desks, tomorrow 16 September, will be pupils and teachers in Puglia and Calabria.

In some places, students started protest initiatives against the high cost of books and support for Gaza. 'We want 5 per cent of GDP in education, this government instead thinks of investing 5 per cent of GDP in weapons, in the genocide of the Palestinian people, we want them to invest in the future, not in war,' the students chanted.

The school year - which involves 7.8 million students and more than a million school staff - has opened with many novelties, but the one that arouses the most interest is undoubtedly the ban on the use of mobile phones in all schools, with penalties for those who do not comply being decided by the institutes but generally ranging from a note to suspension. The students seem to appreciate the novelty on the whole: 'without the phone we talk to each other more,' some admitted at the end of class today. "All studies are showing that mobile phone abuse has a negative impact on memory, imagination, ability to concentrate and also on learning. Five hours of detoxification I think is good for you,' Education Minister Giuseppe Valditara commented today.

Also from this school year, the new provisions on conduct grades come into force: from now on those who receive a 5 in conduct will have to repeat the year, while with a 6 in high school they will be 'sent back to September' and will have to pass a test on citizenship values to be promoted. The conduct grade goes back to the averages (expressed in tenths) and will be averaged. In general, the conduct grade will have to refer to the entire school year and no longer to the four-month period. For students in the final year of secondary school, the critical essay on active citizenship and solidarity will have to be covered in the State examination interview. The behaviour grade will also affect credits for admission to the Maturity exam. The suspension will also change: if suspended for up to two days, the student will be involved in in-depth activities on topics related to the behaviour that caused the measure. If the suspension exceeds two days, the student will have to carry out solidarity citizenship activities at affiliated facilities.

There are also many innovations in the Maturità exam (which will no longer be called the State exam): from the compulsory oral exam (otherwise you will fail) and with fewer subjects (there will be four and the discussion of the document foreseen until now will disappear), to the composition of the exam board, which will decrease from seven to five commissioners. Then, on 1 January 2026, the supplementary health insurance policy for school staff will make its debut, and the Education Ministry assures that in future social housing projects, housing at reduced prices will be allocated to those who work in schools. In addition, after two years of experimentation, Inail insurance coverage in schools for accidents, valid for all educational activities, becomes structural. Finally, teachers' salaries, in view of the contract renewal. 'I have discussed it with Minister Giorgetti, the resources must be increased,' Valditara assured.