2023-10-05 16:34:08
by Simona Montesarchio*
Simona Montesarchio, general director of the Ministry of Education and Merit: «From training to simplification, to work on classrooms, here is what has already been done and what is planned»
In reference to the article which appeared in the Corriere della Sera with the title «Pnrr and digitalisation: a stalemate for schools and universities», signed by Paolo Ferri, the Ministry of Education and Merit specifies the following.
The PNRR Education consists of 6 reforms and 11 investments in infrastructure and skills for a total allocation of over 17.59 billion. The PNRR Education has no delays in its implementation, as so far all the European and national milestones and expected targets have been respected. Even on the measure of nursery schools, the Commission considered the effort and objective achieved in the awarding of public contracts for the construction or safety of buildings used for education in the 0-6 age group to be important.
The National Recovery and Resilience Plan presents 2 significant investments for the digitalisation of schools:
-the first, School 4.0, which plans to transform at least 100,000 classrooms into innovative learning environments and set up a laboratory for the digital professions of the future in every second cycle school;
-the second, Integrated digital teaching and training of school staff for digital transformation, which plans to train at least 650,000 school staff. The School 4.0 investment is being implemented by the schools, and although the allocation of resources was carried out in August 2022, the real impetus was given only with the definition of the operational indications adopted on 21 December 2022, which accelerated the measures and have recognised, thanks to constant work in support of schools, an advance of resources to the extent of 50%, the only investment of the PNRR to obtain a more significant share in consideration of the specificity of the schools.
Furthermore, the School Plan 4.0, which constitutes a general framework of reference with all the useful indications for schools, despite their autonomy, also provides specific information on the training of school staff. In particular, for the laboratories of the digital professions of the future, secondary schools have already designed n. 2,071 laboratories for digital communication, n. 2,022 laboratories for the creation of digital products and services, n. 1,635 laboratories for virtual and augmented reality, n. 1,533 laboratories for 3D/4D making and printing, numbers that go well beyond the target set in the PNRR and which will constitute a real and effective push for digitalization.
For the training of teachers and all school staff in digital transformation, the resource allocation decree is dated May 2023 and a specific national platform has been created, called “Future School”, on which 10,169 training courses are currently available and active on digital skills, in which 413,559 teachers and school staff are enrolled.
The schools were not left alone in the training path, as the model outlined in the PNRR and in the ministerial decree provides for training at multiple levels: a national one, also with the support of the Ministry’s research bodies, one divided into training paths defined through poles at a territorial level and, finally, one at the level of a single educational institution. The training program on digital skills is therefore in full progress, thanks also to the timely identification with procedures started and concluded in November 2022, of 104 national school hubs, which contributed to the offer of the catalog of training courses. In addition to the activity of the national centers, the individual schools are creating, starting from the beginning of the year, training courses for teachers with the involvement of digital animators and are preparing, starting from this school year, to enrich their offer internal on the basis of additional resources already allocated, equal to 450 million.
Please note that the Ministry of Education and Merit has set up a support group and makes use of the network of local training teams. This is a network spread across the entire national territory and also at the regional school offices precisely to activate the necessary coordination on training.
These interventions are also accompanied by a school simplification plan based on the full use of all the latest technologies, including artificial intelligence, with a single access platform for students, families, school staff, on all management and administrative services .
National guidelines such as the Orientation Guidelines were also provided, with which an innovative service was launched, the e-Portfolio, which uses all digital resources and which will be the main working tool for tutor teachers and guidance counselors and that each student and each family will be able to consult directly online on the new orientation platform.
With the Guidelines for STEM disciplines, which have already been adopted by decree, the curriculum of all educational institutions will be strengthened, starting from this school year, on mathematical-scientific-technological and digital skills. The full implementation of the PNRR measures on the digitalisation of schools has had a very important acceleration following the indication of Minister Valditara, and thanks to all the procedures and initiatives implemented in recent months. The training of teachers on digital skills is recording an impact in quantitative and qualitative terms that is unprecedented and which has been made possible thanks to the implementation of an innovative system based on the single catalog and on an innovative training offer, which fully uses also e-learning and multimodal training resources. Finally, the International Scientific Committee was appointed in August.
The Ministry is advancing rapidly on all actions, reforms and investments for an overall increase in school quality.
* Simona Montesarchio is general director of the Ministry of Education and Merit
October 5, 2023 (modified October 5, 2023 | 4:32 pm)
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