As a student that has almost finished his master’s studies in Italy, I see myself able to conclude my two-year stay here as “satisfactory”, and sadly not more. During this time, I had the chance to see the best and worst academicians I could imagine. The obscure distinction between politics and social science, as it is, has led many Italians to a sort of confusion between the political knowledge and political economics. Many politicians, lawyers and businessmen teach in n academic environment, but they have no idea how to be didactic. Students have to study the theory, just like other universities in the world. Not surprisingly, they complain that these theories are not applicable, because they know how uncertain their governments have been during the last decades. They observe an increasing public debt and the populist movement trending at the same time. They see that their society is getting older, where many young experts move to the UK or the US annually. At the same time, protesters in the streets of Rome are seeking new limits on immigration. This political mess is not compatible with any classical theory, leading the students to be chasing the grades only through choosing the easiest curriculum possible, and not demanfin a serious and high-quality education.
One of the unfortunate facts that any international student in Italy can notice at the first glance, is the lack of basic infrastructure. Many faculties of public universities have precisely “zero” seats in their libraries. This has led to overcrowded studying rooms in the faculties that were lucky enough to be equipped with seats and tables. This weak infrastructure also is comparable with some of the professors: they clearly avoid following the British or American traditions of teaching. Many professors cannot finish the syllabus that has not been updated for years. They do not train the students for research and consider advanced skills only for PhD students. This is concerning some of the European universities, mostly in the north, since they see themselves far ahead of the Italian public universities in the upcoming years. Many business schools, faculties of science and graduate schools consider obtaining a Master’s in Italy equivalent to an advance undergraduate degree. Hence, many Italian students cannot go directly to a PhD programme.
Italy is the country of passion: cooking, music, architecture, literature and industry. It is a big waste if the future of this beautiful land will not be filled with advanced scientific research and modernity. The steps that politicians can take is: 1- to increase investments in the public universities, both in the infrastructure and hiring international academic staff. 2- to ask the staff to be more strict and flexible at the same time: they have to control the output of the universities both in terms of quality of the students and the quality of the teaching material. 3- reduce the necessity of postgraduate studies for job finding by relevant policies. The last step is critical: A bachelor degree cannot find you a job easily in cities rather than Milan.
By taking the crucial steps, which could include investing tons of money in the old structure of the Italian education system, the government can gradually improve the culture among the students and the academic staff. The future of Italy, will not be as bright as its history if the universities continue what they have been doing for the last 7 centuries.
Siavash Mohades 