5. Arts and cultural education
San Marino
Last update: June, 2015
Under the aegis of the Ministry of Education and Culture, music education courses were created in 1975 and were subsequently integrated within the current San Marino Music Institute, which actually is not a higher education institution but a Cultural Institute with the aim of "promoting musical culture and the technical-professional preparation intended to encourage young people to perform artistic activities". Initially, the Institute was publicly financed but privately managed. Under Law n. 82 of 1994, it became a public autonomous body with administrative and managerial independence. The Law sets out its objectives, competences and responsibilities, its property, and governs the organisation of its courses. The passing of this Law provided a sustainable framework for the future functioning and financial stability of the Institute.
In 2013, San Marino Music Institute, in agreement with the Directorate of Elementary Schools, has launched the initiative entitled "A piano in the school": five pianos, belonging to the Institute, have been temporarily moved to five schools and will remain there until the end of the restructuring works taking place at the Music Institute. These instruments will be used in the context of music and instrumental education projects, as well as for educational and recreational activities within the schools. Thanks to music laboratories started by the teachers of the Music Institute already some years ago, elementary school pupils can sing together and play instruments, such as violin, harp, guitar and cello. The same fruitful cooperation was achieved between the Nursery School and the Music Institute, which over the years has involved children, teachers and families in significant and very welcome musical experiences organised in some selected schools of the Republic.
In 2005, the recreation centre for children Pologioco in Acquaviva (one of the educational centres on the territory, responsible to the Documentation Centre of the Kindergarten Directorate) promoted and realised the "Parco delle Storie Dimenticate" (park of forgotten stories): a path with sound, ecological, multisensory and interactive devices, a sort of permanent art park in the pinewood of Mount Cerreto. The aim is to include this project in the network of the Italian thematic parks, facilitating mutual promotion of culture and tourism.
In April 2005, a tree symbolising peace was planted in Faetano. This was the concluding stage of a laboratory, cultural and artistic project carried out during the year in the various schools of the Republic, in collaboration with San Marino University and State Museum. The objective was to sensitise teachers and pupils on the role nature has always played, since the most ancient times, in promoting peace and harmony through artistic expressions. The activity culminated with the plantation of a kaki tree from Japan, a seedling which has survived the atomic bombing in Nagasaki. The Japanese artist Tatsuo Miyajma proposed the adoption of this tree by all countries of the world at the 1999 Venice Biennale.
Information is currently not available.
Last update: June, 2015
In September 2007 - on the occasion of the annual meeting of the Committee for Higher Education and Research of the Council of Europe - a delegation of school representatives expressed San Marino's intention to join the Bologna Process. For San Marino, taking part in the Bologna Process means: to ensure transparent and clear courses and educational qualifications to its own citizens; to offer a wide range of high quality knowledge possibilities, which can ensure the economic and social development of the country; to promote the mobility of students, researchers and administrative staff of the University; and to promote European co-operation to assess the quality of the education system (for further information on this issue, see also chapter 1.4.2).
Currently, San Marino University, although small, is very active, vibrant and constantly developing in terms of participation and is making many efforts to achieve the important goal of constantly improving its quality and acquiring an international dimension. One of its objectives is to prepare the future generations to exercise an active and democratic citizenship, in line with the main European Education Policies, both of the Council of Europe and of the European Union. Joining the Bologna Process is for San Marino the sine qua non condition to improve the quality of its higher education system and to take part in the construction of a more democratic, inclusive and sustainable society, by getting fully involved, together with the other European countries, in the building of a European area of higher education.
In 2012 San Marino will submit a formal application for accession to the Bologna Process. This will be a further step forward for the San Marino University, which entails the achievement of two important objectives: an increased quality of its offer and the acquisition of an increasingly international dimension, by fully participating, together with other European countries, in the creation of the European Higher Education Area. This was announced to the press by the Minister of Education and Culture, University and Youth Policies, who has entrusted an ad hoc Working Group with the task of preparing the national report by June 2011. This report will accompany the formal application for accession. During the second half of 2011, the relevant assessments will be made, followed in 2012 by the ratification of the Commission.
Last update: June, 2015
Every year, during the summer, the Ministry of Education and Culture organises some training courses targeted at students of secondary schools, the vocational training centre and universities. These students already benefit from the opportunities provided for by Law no. 21/2004 on the right to study, such as study allowances, study allowances based on merit, contributions for books, trust based loans, grants and reduced prices for transport. Therefore, the above-mentioned courses represent another application of the Law and are divided up into three areas. One of these areas concerns the cultural sector and provides for the learning of foreign languages in European or non-European countries, or the possibility of gaining experience at the San Marino National Commission for UNESCO, the Training Department, the Social Centres, the State Radio and Television Broadcasting Company and public museums. In the latter, for example, students have the possibility to become acquainted with the museum collections, to improve understanding of the history of the items displayed in the museums and to discover the territory through its exhibition places, monuments and unknown areas. The aim is to train museum staff to provide quality information to tourists.
For San Marino young people, this is an occasion to put their skills and knowledge to good use in a real working place and to get a small remuneration. Every course last for 80 hours over three weeks, from mid June to the end of September. Each participant benefits from a grant, the amount of which varies according to the course chosen.
In 2010, the Museum of the Emigrant - Study Centre on Emigration, the Communication Department - Study Centre on Memory, the Training Department of the University of San Marino and AIEP Publisher started collaborating with the Holden School in Turin, which deals with narration. A memory writing laboratory was organised and the texts written by participants, both young and adults, highlighted the places, memories and sense of belonging to a small State. What emerged was a new and exclusive image of San Marino, provided by the experiences of participants, who recalled their past, emotions and indissoluble connection with the history and traditions of their territory. The stories and memories were then put together and elaborated by the facilitators of the course in a final reading, which was subsequently transformed into a book. This initiative, carried out under the aegis of the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Culture and Tourism, further testifies to the active collaboration between the University and public and private entities (see also chapter 3.1).
Please find the available information on this subject in 5.3.