Italian Minister Bernini Outlines Vision for AFAM Reform and Innovation

Italian Minister of University and Research Anna Maria Bernini, during a hearing before the joint Culture Committees of the Chamber and Senate, outlined a vision for reforming the AFAM (Alta Formazione Artistica, Musicale e Coreutica) system. She described AFAM as "our gold" and a "deposit of talents" to bring Italy to the world and vice versa. Bernini stressed the need to use the PNRR as a lever to strengthen AFAM structurally, noting that the current plan only allocates three lines to AFAM, impacting only internationalization projects. She called for a comprehensive reform to overcome the fragmented legal framework that has existed since Law 508 of 1999, which she described as having been "genetically modified" from its original 1997 version. Bernini emphasized the importance of bridging the "two cultures" of science and humanities, citing figures like Michelangelo, Leonardo, Grazia Deledda, Enrico Fermi, Riccardo Muti, and Giorgio Parisi. She proposed renaming AFAM to "Università delle Arti" to reflect its role as a higher education institution. The article, written by Antonio Bisaccia (President of the National Council for AFAM), highlights the need for new regulations on recruitment, teaching, governance, evaluation, adequate funding, research doctorates, and teacher parity to make AFAM institutions more competitive internationally.