Reducing examination syllabuses and extending lectures: Bernini ready to change the entrance to Medicine
The interventions would be for next year. For the one starting soon, however, there will be no new national test
by Lorenzo Pace
Key points
Reduced examination programmes and longer class periods to prepare for the tests. These are the points that the Ministry of Universities and Research is considering in order to intervene in the functioning of the access system to the Medicine faculty from the next academic year, given that a new national test is not available for the one ready to start at the beginning of 2026
The first session at the National Council of University Students
Minister Anna Maria Bernini, who has been challenged in recent days over the new 'filter semester', said she was willing to discuss how to adapt the reform and proposed to the National Council of University Students (CNSU) the establishment of a permanent discussion forum on the reform of access to Medicine.
And he outlined the possible innovations. First of all, a possible intervention in examination content, with a reduction of examination programmes. Then, there could be both an extension of the duration of the lectures (which this year lasted three months, from the beginning of September to the end of November) and an extension of the time between the end of the courses and the examinations, so as to guarantee more space for teaching.
Udu protest continues
During the first meeting of the new CNSU council, the Union of University Students movement - the same one that challenged Bernini at Atreju - gathered in front of the ministry: 'While inside we talk about representation, outside the students are paying for the government's wrong choices. Opening the rankings is not enough: Medicine must really be opened. The filter semester is a false solution that neither addresses the shortage of health personnel nor guarantees the right to study. The numerus clausus must be overcome, the filter semester must be abolished, and structural investments in the public university are needed'.
Pending votes
All this when the grades for the second exam, which took place on 10 December, have not yet been announced. Those from the first test, however, were critical, with around 15% of students passing the Physics exam (little better, around 23%, for Biology and Chemistry).
