2009 school documentation requirements for Italian students

From AFSWiki

Letter Regarding School Transcripts for Italian Students

Every year, as the partners who regularly host Italian students know, some of the students who return to Italy from the year program have difficulties with the Italian school system. The problem being the re-acceptance of the student into his/her old class.

It should not be a problem really, since the student should be re-accepted by law into his/her old class, but since the government re-organized education system a few years ago to a more flexible locally organized system, the principals and school staff are even more in a state of indecision about how to deal with a student who has been "missing" for the whole school year.

The law does not help much, as it is vague and leaves the decisions and conclusions up to the Principal himself. Naturally the school Principals are very hesitant to re-accept the student without some sort of formal documentation stating the student has been in an officially recognised school during the period he has not been attending the Italian school from September to June.

At the end of the school term , (sometime in May or June) it is necessary for ALL students to get from the hosting school:

• A statement on school headed paper and signed by the school principal or vice principal, stating the exact period of attendance
• A complete end of program report including subjects and grades attained
• A detailed course description for each subject
• A written evaluation by each teacher that has had the student in the class. This last "extra requirement" is to help the student be more readily accepted rather than to be considered a "nuisance" by the student. In the past, in cases of difficulty this document has been of great help in the re-acceptance of the student.

Since the re-organization of the school system, it is no longer necessary to have school documentation translated and legalized by the Italian Consulate, unless specifically asked by the Italian school. AFS-Italy has requested that students to get in touch with their school Principals in order to know how to proceed. When it is not clear to students whether they need the translation and legalization by the competent Italian consulate, we have asked the students to do so in any case, BEFORE leaving the hosting country.

Past years some teachers and Principals of the students who returned from the year program were rather disappointed by the documentation presented by the students. Many of them remembered that in the past (just a few years back) the students had to translate and legalize papers, so they requested that again. Once back in Italy, it is almost impossible to satisfy this request. Several of these returnees had a very hard time in the following months trying to persuade their schools to accept the documentation they had brought back with them, not to mention the flow of calls to the AFS-Italy offices and the time consuming conversations with teachers, principals and parents, and partner offices, regarding the school papers in English or Spanish.

AFS-Italy has already sent out a letter to each of the students to remind them of what they have to do and of the necessary documentation they should bring back with them. Included in the letter was the procedure to follow for the translation and legalization as follows:

1. The student (with the help of a volunteer or a host parent) calls the nearest Italian Consulate BEFORE the end of term and sees what is required
2. The staff at the Consulate will ask for the above listed documents (sometimes they may ask for an additional statement from AFS, but this is not frequent). Since the cost of translation can be high, the student should see if he can send the papers already translated (by himself, but best not mention that to the Consulate Staff) along with the originals.
3. The cost of the service should be asked and the amount enclosed with the papers which should be sent the moment the papers are released by the school.
4. When the student calls the Consulate it is advisable that they take down the name of whom they have spoken to and the phone number, in case of a subsequent follow up.
5. All papers should be sent to the Consulate by courier (so that there is a receipt) and NOT by ordinary post. A copy should be made of everything that is sent to the Consulate and this copy should be brought back to Italy.
6. The return address should be in the same country. In spite of reassurances to the contrary, when the students call, it is our experience that Consulate Staff never send papers on to Italy. The students should give an address in the same country (the host family address).

If the students follow the above procedures they should have plenty of time to get the papers back before they return home.

In order to make sure that the schools are aware of the experience abroad of the students, ALL Italian schools in question have received a letter from AFS-Italy explaining the procedure for re-admittance, with various ministerial documents for their perusal and information. The letter was sent in April (with a copy to the natural parents).

Thanks in advance for all your help!