Adnkronos Rome, June 17 – (Adnkronos) – Bring out your talents and don’t be afraid. This is the message from the Minister of Education and Merit, Giuseppe Valditara, to the students who tomorrow will face the first test of the 2025 final exam, the Italian essay. “The kids – Valditara told Adnkronos – have so many talents inside them and their great beauty lies precisely in the diversity of their talents.
Tomorrow they will have to valorize them: they need to be brought out. And if you have a clear conscience, if you have studied, there is no reason not to face these days serenely".
"My final exam? I remember a theme on Carlo Porta, which I particularly liked because he was a Milanese dialect poet capable of masterfully interpreting the society of his time: his characters, authentic commoners, are very genuine figures - Valditara said - I also remember the oral exam with Euripides. I was calm. I felt quite charged, I was prepared and I didn't have any particular problems. It's a positive memory, and then came the post-exam: I went to Madrid with a friend and we toured around Spain".
The minister then addressed the issue of the weight of the conduct grade for admission to this year's exam, highlighting the importance of the word responsibility. "The stronger emphasis given to the conduct grade - explained Valditara - is intended to be a way to fully understand the principle of responsibility, that is, being accountable for the actions one takes. One also becomes an adult by facing and assuming one's responsibilities - reiterated Valditara - If a person bases his or her conduct on respect for classmates, teachers and public goods, it is unlikely that he or she will have an unsatisfactory conduct grade".
Valditara wanted to support the decision to ban smartphone use even in high schools. According to the minister, "not having addictions means being free and mature. Because if I can't detach myself from an object, whatever it is, it's clear that I haven't fully realized my freedom, and therefore I haven't managed to structure myself as a person in its entirety".
"Addiction can be to a cell phone, to drugs, to video games, to alcohol – Valditara underlined – The ability to be truly free, to not depend on something, is also taught to us by the classics, I am thinking of what an emperor like Marcus Aurelius wrote in 'Conversations with himself', a book that young people should read. I believe that the ability to overcome any addiction is one of the constitutive elements of maturity".
Valditara concluded by stating that they are reflecting "on the change of name, from State exam to 'maturity' exam. Obviously a law is needed - the minister underlined - In an era in which adults tend to return to being adolescents and adolescents have few points of reference to grow and mature - Valditara explained - I believe that putting the emphasis back on the term maturity, maturity exam, is evocative. Let's put the sense of responsibility and maturity back at the center".