Italian AFAM System Faces Bureaucratic Discrimination in Teacher Appointments

A new bureaucratic decree (No. 497/2020) from Italy's Ministry of Public Education bars teachers from the Alta Formazione Artistica, Musicale e Coreutica (AFAM) system from serving as examination board presidents for secondary school teaching qualifications, despite a recommendation from the Consiglio Superiore della Pubblica Istruzione (CSPI) to include them. A subsequent decree (No. 510) further discriminates within AFAM, allowing only teachers from the Accademia Nazionale di Danza to hold such presidencies, excluding those from Conservatories, Academies of Fine Arts, and ISIA. Antonio Bisaccia, President of the National Council for AFAM, denounces this as 'bureaucratic racism' and a violation of the 1999 reform (Law 508/1999) that granted AFAM institutions autonomy under Article 33 of the Constitution. The CSPI had explicitly requested the inclusion of AFAM teachers, but the ministry rejected it, citing non-equiparability. Bisaccia argues this reflects deep-seated prejudice against art education, echoing Flaubert's cliché that 'artists don't work.' The article traces the historical roots of bureaucracy from ancient Egypt to modern states, citing Max Weber's analysis of impersonality, and criticizes the persistent undervaluation of artistic fields within Italian administrative culture.