‘Grades for conduct’ is a new policy similar to a law introduced by Mussolini that aims to tackle the rising aggression towards teachers.
Italy has restored a policy to fail badly behaved pupils as aggression directed at teachers continues to rise.
The “grades for conduct” policy is similar to one initially introduced by Benito Mussolini’s fascist government in 1924. Parliament approved the policy on Wednesday as part of an education bill that authorizes students to fail based purely on their behaviour.
Middle and high schoolers who score five or below out of ten on conduct will fail the year even if their academic performance is up to par and will have to repeat. High schoolers must take a civic test if they score only 6 out of 10. Behaviour marks greatly influence the sitting of the crucial maturità school-leaving exam.
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Giuseppe Valditara, the education minister in Giorgia Meloni’s far-right government, said, “The grades-for-conduct reform restores the importance of individual responsibility, makes respect of people and public goods central, and restores the authoritativeness of teachers.” Meloni had earlier stated that the change would “bring back respect” in schools.
Students who behave aggressively or violently towards school staff will face a fine between €500 (£415) and €10,000.
Italy’s Association of Headteachers, ANP, embraced the law after a more than 110% rise in aggressive incidents towards teaching staff since the beginning of the year compared to 2023. In most cases, teachers need medical attention, while in some, the parents of students become the perpetrators of the act.
The president of ANP, Antonello Giannelli, stated that the policy was “a step forward”. He said: “We have heard of too many cases of undisciplined and out-of-the-ordinary behavior.” “It is right that students are called to reflect on their responsibilities as a consequence of their actions.”
The coordinator of a national student union, Tommaso Martelli, said the decision aimed to “reinforcing an authoritarian and punitive culture”. He stated: “The possibility of being failed for violations of the rules now makes the grades for conduct measure something that can be used as a further repressive tool in our schools.”
The original policy enacted during the Mussolini era remained in place until the mid-1970s when it was removed from elementary and middle schools after students protested. It underwent modifications over the years before being scrapped from schools in the 2000s.
The package of policies was already approved in the Senate and passed in the House with 154 votes in favour, 97 against, and seven members absent.
A politician with the centre-left Democratic party stated that the conduct rule marked “a return to a time that we would prefer to forget.”
