Università degli studi di Catania The INDICATORS Project

1. Università degli studi di CataniaThe INDICATORSProject STAKEHOLDER AUDITS For the self-assessment of lifelong learning and progress in SCHOOLS Roberta Piazza

2. Outlines 1. Catania and her province 2. The italian school system 3. The specific catanese area 4. Audit results

3. 1. Catania and her province The province of Catania comprises fifty-eight cities totalling an extension of 3,552 square kilometres and over a million inhabitants

4. Economic activities • Agriculture Agriculture is based mainly on viticulture and citrus fruit cultivation.  Horticulture in widespread. There is a great number of agricultural products, that are appreciated in the rest of Italy and abroad:  the prickly pears (fichi  d'India)  from  San Cono,  the  “verdelli” lemons,  the  strawberries from Maletto,  the pistachoes from  Bronte,  the grapes from Castiglione di  Sicilia, etc.

5. Industry The province is the main industrial development pole after Palermo in Sicily. Food industry, pharmachemical industry, building  industry are the most important fields in Catania.

6. Trade The most important part of trade is based on citrus trading. These tradings involve mainly Germany, France, United Kingdom and United States (the share import-export  is  2:1  in favour of export).

7. Tourism For her position, Catania is in the middle of sea communications with the rest of Italy and with the est Mediterraneum,  but  also for terrestrial communications with Messina, Siracusa and inner parts of Sicily.  The International Aerport  of  Catania-Fontanarossa,  is the main stopover of Sicily. The province of Catania is full of monuments  and museums. These peculiarity has contribueted to increase cultural tourism in the last two decade.

8. 2. The Italian School Sistem • The Italian school system at present is based on primary, secondary and higher education. • The primary level (scuola primaria) starts at the age of 6 until the age of 11. • Before this age, children can go to the nursery school (scuola dell’infanzia) from the age of three years until they are six years. This school is not compulsory but is now rather normal to send the children to these schools.

9. After the primary school follows the secondary school (scuola secondaria di I grado) until 14 years of age. At that age the compulsory education is completed. The compulsory education is free, families have to pay for the books only at the secondary school. • At the end of compulsory education, childern take an exam and those who pass it can start their higher education (Istruzione secondaria di II grado). This education wasn`t founded with the finality of basic education. • The diploma you get at the end of higher education gives access to professions (directly) or indirectly by the admission to the University. In the end the school has the purpose to prepare the managing class.

10. Higher education involves the following schools: Liceo scientifico (scientific high school), Liceo classico (classic high school), Liceo Linguistico (language high school), Istituto Magistrale (magisterial school), Istituto Tecnico (technical school), Istituto Professionale (professional school) and the Artistical education divided in Liceo artistico (artistical high school), Istituto d’Arte (school of art), Conservatorio di Musica (conservatory of music), Accademia di Danza (academy of dance), Accademia Nazionale d’Arte Drammatica (national academy of dramatic art).

11. Changes into action • Now, a reform school plan has been approved, so articulated: • Nursery school (scuola dell’infanzia) (3 years non compulsory): children can start also at 2 years old and 1/2; • Primary level (scuola primaria) (5 years compulsory): children must begin at 6 years, but they could begin also at 5 years and 1/2;

12. Secondary school(3 year, first cycle): one year of guidance to choose next route; new state examination at the end of this cycle • Secondary school(3 year, second cycle): students could choose between Licei (5 years) and Professional education (between 3 to 5 years). 5 anni: Liceo scientifico (scientific high school), Liceo classico (classic high school), Liceo Linguistico (language high school), Liceo delle Scienze umane (Human science high school), Istituto Tecnologico (technological school), Liceo musicale (conservatory of music), Liceo economico (economic high school) . between 3 to 5 years: After 3 years students may have their first title useful for job world in Italy and in E.C. After 4 years they can have their final examination compulsory for University.

14. The adult educational system • For young and older adults in general, a target program has been launched in 1997 with the establishment of the Centri Territoriali Permanenti. Such Centers are based at a Primary or lower secondary school unit and co-coordinated by the school principal, who manages the school activities in the framework of the existing regulations as concerns the appointment of the teachers, the priorities in enrolling students, the administration, etc. • They have to be established by the Provincial School Authorities in agreement with local authorities and other public and private bodies.

15. The aims are: providing young and older adults with the opportunity of achieving the elementary and the lower secondary school leaving certificates; improving their basic knowledge and skills encouraging the re-entering in the educational process for people at risk of marginalization. • The Centri Territoriali Permanenti are permanent institutions and operate on district bases, i.e. they are established in a school district where a minimum of 90 people apply to attend the planned courses. Most of them (80.2 in 1998-99) are based at lower secondary schools, but a number of Centers are also based at primary schools (16.5) and the comprehensive schools (3.3). Teachers involved in these services were 3.314 in 1998-99.  • The type of their educational supply is twofold: regular courses of at least 200 school days a year for the achievement of the primary or lower secondary school leaving certificate; and short courses on various topics, as, for instance, computer literacy, foreign languages, vocational guidance, environmental education, etc.

16. These Centers started in the school year 1997-98, and are regularly monitored by the Ministry of Education. • Different is the distribution of the courses throughout the national territory. First of all, more Centers have been established in Southern Regions and in the Islands than in Northern and Central Italy (209 and 179 respectively), but as regards the regular literacy courses the opposite is true, since in the Northern and Central Regions the number of courses supplied is more than three times that of the South and the Islands, and the number of participants almost five times, while the situation is reversed so far as the courses for workers (the 150 hours courses) are concerned. • There is a clear preminence of the male participants if compared with the female, and this is true at national and at regional level as well. The proportion male-female changes completely if the short courses are considered. In this case the female participants are decidedly more than the male in all the Italian Regions (61 against 39 at national level, and almost the same proportion in Northern-Central Italy and in South-Islands).

17. 3. The specific catanese area • The italian school system has been developed irregulary: faster in economic and socially advantegeous areas (Nord), more slowly in the South and in the Islands. • In Sicily, the school system scolastico has always been characterized by: low number of buildings high number of drop-out and failed students.

18. Nursery and primary school • The province of Catania has the highest number of schools in Sicily, but also the higest number of students (share students/school) in Italy. • Children between 3 to 10 years who live in the province are almost 114.000.

19. Secondary schools and higher education • Also for secondary schools, Catania has in her province more schools than other Sicilian provinces, instead Catania is fifth in Italy for density (share students/schools). • For higher education Catania is the first in Sicily wth 94 schools; it’s eighth in Italy for number of students (21.375). The share students/classroom is always very high. • Students prefer scientific high school, classic high school, magisterial school and artistical high school; meno preferiti professional schools

20. Private schools • In Sicily, such as in the rest of Italy, the number of pupils who attends private schools is low • In Catania there are 21 private secondary schools and 80 private higher schools

21. Foreign students • In Catania foreign students are 651 (a.s. 2002/2003), who represented 45 different ethnies. The highest number is in the primary schools. Students with disabilities • In Catania disabled students in nursery schools are 246 (0.96%); in primary schools 1,473 (2.38%); in secondary school 1.129 (2.50%).

22. School’s drop-out • All Sicilian provinces have a high percentage of students dropping-out until primary school. • In Catania percentage of failed students for the first class of primary school is 7,35%; for the higher education the range is 2.7% (classical schools)- 13.4 (artistic schools)

23. Participation to experimental national plans • Sicilian schools take part to national plans with a few percentage (8%).

24. Network • More than 80 schools in the province of Catania take parts to Progetto AETNANET, a network to develop teaching methods, documentation and administrative services.

25. Plans for adults co-financed from E.C. • “Second change” school: it’s a pilot plan whose aim is to replace in ti the work world anemployed and socially disavantaged people, between 16 to 22 years old. • The comprehensive institute "F. Petrarca" have realized this plan, that is articolated in the following areas: • 1) basis education; • 2) professional training; • 3) trainig on the job.

26. Plan Socrates A-mare: it has been realized in the Centro Territoriale permanente n° 5 - I.C. "A. Manzoni”. • It’s a plan connected to the sea, to men who work in contact to the sea, to the history of Mediterranean culture. • The main aim is related to reconvert the productive activities connected to the sea.