Education system in Italy

The education system in Italy is generally regulated by national laws and is therefore largely uniform. Within the executive branch , the Ministry of Education, Universities and Research is responsible for education and higher education . There is a uniform structural standard for vocational training , the regions and provinces also regulate more details . Autonomous regional authorities such as South Tyrol have expanded responsibilities and tasks in the field of education.

The Italian school system is divided horizontally into several levels. The preschool attendance is not mandatory, but usual. The primary and lower secondary levels together comprise eight grades . As a rule, young people switch to the secondary school types of upper secondary level at the age of 14 . Universities of various types and higher vocational training institutions make up the tertiary education sector . With a few exceptions, adult and continuing education are not part of the state education system in the narrower sense.

In Italy, children and young people between the ages of six and 16 are required to attend education for ten years . Anyone who does not want to continue school education afterwards must complete vocational training up to the age of 18 . School attendance is free up to the end of lower secondary level, and families have to pay for school books and teaching materials.

Overview

Age	School level	Duration	Italian name	German name
3-6	Preschool level	3 years	Scuola dell'Infanzia	kindergarten
6-11	Primary level	5 years	Scuola Primaria	primary school
11-14	Secondary level I.	3 years	Secondary School of Primo Grado	Secondary school
14-19	Secondary level II	3 to 5 years	Liceo Istituto Tecnico Istituto Professionale	Gymnasium Fachoberschule Berufsfachschule
from 19	Tertiary education	1 to 8 years	Università Istruzione e Formazione Tecnica Superiore	Universities Vocational schools

The abovementioned names of the school types were partly newly introduced in 2004, the old names are still very common. The following school types have been renamed:

Scuola Materna in Scuola dell'Infanzia ,
Scuola Elementare in Scuola Primaria ,
Scuola Media in Scuola Secondaria di Primo Grado .

The following changes occurred in the school levels:

scuole elementari in istruzione primaria (primary level)
scuole medie inferiori in istruzione secondaria di primo grado (lower secondary level)
scuole medie superiori in istruzione secondaria di secondo grado (upper secondary level)
scuole superiori in istruzione superiore (tertiary level).

Preschool level

Small children between the ages of three months and three years can be looked after in day nurseries ( Asilo Nido ). These institutions were institutionalized by law in 1971, but are not part of the state education system. In 1968, under the name Scuola Materna at the time, state pre-schools were introduced , which are not compulsory. As a rule, children from the age of three, possibly also from two and a half years, are prepared in a playful way for attending compulsory school. There is a half-day and a full-day school offer . The Scuola dell'Infanzia comprises three grades. It belongs to the state school system.

Primary level

Despite being renamed Scuola Primaria, the primary school is still often referred to as Scuola Elementare . It forms the first section of the compulsory school area. As a rule, school enrollment takes place at the age of six. The five grades are grouped into three cycles. The first year is for the introduction, followed by two two-year cycles. All-day schools may also be offered in compulsory schools. From 1990 to 2009 individual teams of teachers were responsible for Italian elementary school classes, after which they returned to the class teacher principle . In primary school, lessons begin in the first foreign language, usually English, in South Tyrol, in German-speaking schools it is e.g. B. Italian. There is no longer a final exam at the end of primary school. The transfer to lower secondary level usually takes place at the age of eleven.

Secondary level I.

Lower secondary level is intended for young people between the ages of 11 and 14 and comprises three grades. It has been organized as a single school since 1963 . The official name has been scuola secondaria di primo grado since 2004 . The uncomplicated old name scuola media is still widespread and is still common in South Tyrol as a middle school . A second foreign language is started in middle school. As a rule, French, Spanish or German are available; Latin is offered as an additional elective. From 1963 to 1977, successful participation in Latin classes was a prerequisite for attending a grammar school ( Liceo ). At that time only one living foreign language was taught, mostly French. Middle school ends with a state final examination, the passing of which is a prerequisite for transfer to secondary schools.

Schools that each have a pre-school, elementary and middle school under one roof are also called istituto comprensivo . This also applies to pre-primary, elementary and secondary schools in the immediate vicinity, which are administered together.

Preschool (kindergarten) with the old name Scuola Materna
Primary school Giacomo Puccini in Prato (Tuscany)
Middle school in Savigliano (Piedmont)
Middle school in Rieti (Latium)

Secondary level II

General

In Italy, the upper secondary level begins with the ninth grade, and thus the structured school system . The usually 14-year-old pupils have to choose one of three types of school and their various fields of study. The grammar schools ( liceo ) generally prepare for university studies and are rather abstract in their teaching content. The practice-oriented technical colleges ( istituto tecnico ) offer the possibility of acquiring a professional qualification in addition to the general university entrance qualification. Both grammar schools and technical colleges comprise five grades, with the first two years being more general and providing orientation. The third type of school is the vocational school ( istituto professionale ), at which a professional qualification can be obtained after three or four years, and the general higher education entrance qualification after five years. In addition, dual vocational training is also possible.

Up until the year 2000, children and adolescents aged six to 14 were only required to attend school for eight years. Elementary and middle schools therefore formed the so-called compulsory school ( scuola dell'obbligo ). Since then, there has been a twelve-year compulsory education for six to 18 year olds. In principle, no young person should leave the education system without having obtained a professional qualification. According to the current legal situation, there are ten years of compulsory schooling, whereby the tenth year of compulsory schooling can be given up in favor of dual vocational training, provided that the middle school and the first year of vocational school have been successfully completed. Young people are exempt from the twelve-year compulsory education if they achieve a first professional qualification before the age of 18.

In Italy, the term maturità is no longer officially used for the school leaving examination or for the corresponding qualification . In addition to the term maturità, the qualifications also always had a school-type-related addition, e.g. B. diploma di maturità classica , maturità tecnica or maturità professionale . The official name today is esame di stato ( state final examination ), but in colloquial language it is still almost always maturità or Matura . In Italy, the examination tasks are set centrally by the ministry. The German and Ladin-speaking schools in South Tyrol are an exception , where the tasks in some subjects are translated and others are replaced in other subjects (the first written exam is not to be taken in Italian, but in German).

High schools

There are six types of grammar schools in Italy:

Official Italian name	Official German name (South Tyrol)	Common name in Germany
Liceo Classico	Classic high school	Humanistic high school
Liceo Scientifico	Realgymnasium	Mathematical and natural science high school
Liceo Artistico	Art high school	Art high school
Liceo Linguistico	Language high school	Language Lycée
Liceo Musicale e Coreutico	Music high school	Music high school
Liceo delle Scienze Umane	Social Science High School	Social Science High School

The grammar schools are listed here in the order in which they were introduced. They convey a broad general education that should serve as the basis for university studies. Latin lessons, which are traditionally strong at Italian grammar schools, have been somewhat restricted. Latin is not compulsory at the Kunstgymnasium and the Musisches Gymnasium. At the natural science grammar school and the social science grammar school there are special branches in which Latin was also dispensed with. Another characteristic of the different grammar schools is the different subject focus, especially in the last three of the five school years.

The traditional and prestigious humanistic grammar school ( Liceo Classico or Liceo Ginnasio ) focuses on the humanistic field and the languages Latin and ancient Greek. As a living foreign language, French has only recently been supplanted by English. The Liceo Scientifico focuses on natural science subjects. It was created in 1923 from the Liceo Moderno introduced in 1911 and from parts of the technical college area. In the 1960s, the Liceo Artistico was created , which today has, in addition to classic art education, more modern content such as multimedia art or design in its specialist curriculum. The former art schools ( Istituto d'Arte ) were added to the art high schools and vocational schools. The modern language Liceo Linguistico was only introduced in the 1970s and is now often a subject at other grammar schools. Three foreign languages are compulsory at the modern-language grammar school. The arts grammar schools used to be part of the music colleges (conservatories), but were only recognized as an independent grammar school form with the most recent school reforms. The social science or pedagogical grammar school was renamed from the former teacher training institute ( Istituto Magistrale ), where elementary school teachers were trained in the past, until university studies were also compulsory for them. Business high schools and technological high schools emerged after various school attempts by renaming technical schools from 2004 to 2006, then these reforms were either reversed or replaced by special (non-Latin) branches at the social or natural science high school. A few high schools (and other high schools) have a special range of sports and offer prospective competitive athletes lessons tailored to their needs.

Schools in which several types of high school or high school exist under one roof or which are grouped together in a school center and are organizationally connected to one another are also called istituto di istruzione secondaria superiore .

Liceo Ginnasio “Andrea Doria” in Genoa (Liguria)
Liceo Scientifico “Copernico” in Prato
Liceo classico “Cavour” in Turin
Franciscan high school in Bolzano

Technical colleges

A characteristic of the Italian technical colleges was the strong differentiation in training directions and specialist classes that had grown over the years. Up until 2010 the following subjects existed:

Official Italian name	Official German name (South Tyrol)	Common name in Germany
Istituto Tecnico Commerciale	Commercial high school	FOS course in business
Istituto Tecnico Industriale	Commercial high school	FOS training in technology
Istituto Tecnico Agrario	Agricultural school	FOS training in agriculture
Istituto Tecnico Nautico	(unavailable)	FOS training in seafaring
Istituto Tecnico Aeronautico	(unavailable)	FOS training in aviation
Istituto Tecnico per Geometri	High school for geometers	FOS training in surveying
Istituto Alberghiero	Hotel Management School	FOS training in tourism
Istituto Magistrale	Teacher Training Institute (LBA)	Former teacher training institute
Scuola Magistrale	Kindergarten teacher school	unknown (from 2008 pedagogical high school)

Since 2010 there are only two training courses with a total of eleven subjects:

Training direction	Subject area
Business College (WFO)	Business administration
Business College (WFO)	tourism
Technological College (TFO)	Mechanical engineering, mechatronics, energy
	Transport and logistics
	Electronics and electrical engineering
	IT and telecommunications
	Graphics and communication
	Chemistry, materials science and biotechnology
	Fabrics, clothing and fashion
	Agriculture and agro-industry
	Construction, Environment and Spatial Planning

After the first two years, mainly of general education, practical training takes place in training workshops, laboratories and similar facilities. Internships with companies are also planned. The new names of the technical colleges are Istituto Tecnico Economico (business school) and Istituto Tecnico Tecnologico (technical college), whereby the Italian term tecnico does not stand for "technology", but in this case for "subject".

Business School in Prato
Italian high school students 2009
Technical college in Lodi (Lombardy)
State Vocational School Luigi Einaudi in Bozen (South Tyrol)

Vocational schools

Up to 2010 there was a relatively clear separation between the state vocational schools and the vocational schools in the regions. In principle, the vocational schools offered two degrees: after three years the qualifica professionale as a professional qualification, after two further years the diploma di maturità professionale , the higher education entrance qualification known as the “professional matura”. In the past, training courses at regional vocational schools usually lasted two to three years. With the most recent reforms, some of these cycles have been changed and made more flexible, and cooperation between the two types of school has been made possible. In South Tyrol, the vocational education system is entirely subordinate to the state.

State vocational schools

State vocational schools (Istituto Professionale) have offered four to five-year state training courses since 2010. Regional training courses lasting three years are also carried out there on behalf of the regions. According to a uniform legal framework, a professional qualification certificate (Qualifica di Operatore Professionale) can be obtained after three years , a vocational training diploma (Diploma Professionale di Tecnico) after four years and a vocational college entrance qualification (Diploma di Istruzione Professionale) after five years . There are various minor features depending on the region and school. The first year of vocational training or the first two years can mainly serve as a professional orientation. For some courses, a continuous five-year specialist training is provided, which automatically includes the university entrance qualification. The practical training takes place in training workshops and as part of company internships.

A significant innovation was introduced with the vocational training diploma. Graduates, who are usually 18 years old, can continue their professional training at the new vocational colleges (Istruzione e Formazione Tecnica Superiore, IFTS) . The vocational training diploma was based on the German technical college entrance qualification, while the vocational higher education system was based on the master schools , vocational academies and also at the technical colleges .

The training and subject areas of the vocational schools were rationalized in 2010. There are currently the following training and specializations:

Training direction	Subject area
Industry and craft	Artisanal and industrial production
Industry and craft	Maintenance and technical support
Service sector	Agriculture and Rural Development
	Social and health
	Gastronomy and hotel business
	trade

The subject areas are further subdivided into subject classes depending on the exact job description.

Regional vocational schools

According to earlier plans, the above-mentioned state vocational schools should become entirely the responsibility of the Italian regions . This reform was not implemented, partly because the state's influence on vocational training is considered to be stabilizing and in this way a certain degree of uniformity is still guaranteed. In particular, the inadequate standards in vocational training in some southern Italian regions speak against full regionalization.

With the last reform of the education system, a mixed system was introduced in several regions. In addition to the implementation of three-year regional training courses at state vocational schools, there are other collaborations. The first year of vocational training can be completed at state vocational schools, after which it is possible to continue training in regional vocational training and in training companies. The state-recognized regional qualifications enable students to continue their education at state schools up to the university entrance qualification. Later education and training courses are usually subject to a fee, but in many cases there are public funding programs, including retraining.

The regional vocational school system has existed since the 1970s. The regions determine the legal framework in this area and leave the details and in particular the operation and maintenance of the vocational training facilities to the lower regional authorities , which are guided in their planning by the needs of the local economy. As a rule, a three-year full-time training is provided, with the practical part again being completed in our own training workshops or as part of company internships. This approach predominates in regions with high youth unemployment. Otherwise, as far as possible, the dual training that is widespread in German-speaking countries has been oriented.

Private schools

Private schools which can be assigned to the above-mentioned school levels and which meet certain state requirements are referred to in Italy as "parity" or equivalent schools. Your certificates and degrees correspond legally to those of the state schools. Compulsory education or vocational training can be fulfilled at state-recognized but not equivalent private schools, but these schools cannot issue legally valid certificates.

Around 20 percent of all Italian pre-primary, primary and secondary schools are private schools. Around ten percent of all students between the ages of three and 18 are enrolled in them. With these numbers it should be noted that the focus is on pre-school.

About half of the private schools are church-sponsored, in the past this proportion was much higher. The financial support of private schools by the state is controversial, also because the quality of teaching often does not come close to that of state schools.

Timetables

The timetables of all state schools (including secondary schools) provide for a large compulsory part that is the same for all pupils, only a few (10–20%) of the hours are compulsory elective lessons. However, each school itself decides on the lesson table within the framework of the general requirements of state law. Due to the fixed allocation, students are permanently divided into classes throughout their entire school career . The class affiliation changes solely through the change of school and the change of school level.

In South Tyrol, lessons are optionally in German , Ladin or Italian (but in separate schools). In the Aosta Valley , classes are held in French and Italian.

Religious instruction is also characteristic of the Italian school system . In elementary school, he takes on Catholic Bible lessons. In the middle school, the world religions are also dealt with and in the high school ethical and moral education. However, religious education can also be deselected at all school levels.

Relocation and retirement

In the Italian school system, students who have not completed the school year with insufficient results cannot be transferred . The student must (after compulsory school: can) repeat the school year. If a student is not transferred twice, the school may refuse re-enrollment. However, enrollment in another school of the same type is still possible.

The decision on the transfer is made by the class council, i.e. an assembly of all teachers in a class. In case of doubt, the class teacher or the school director will decide on the transfer. In elementary school, non-promotion usually only takes place with the consent of the parents.

Since 2009, the school year in secondary schools has to be completed positively in all subjects in order to be able to attend the next higher level (beforehand a transfer could be made with reservations; i.e. the student was transferred, but had to cope with a so-called catch-up examination in the following year). Today, students have to catch up on their learning arrears during the summer holidays and take an exam in the deferred subjects at the beginning of September before the new school year begins. If the result is positive, the student is transferred, otherwise he or she has to repeat the class.

The grading scale ranges from 0 to 10, with 10 being the best grade. The grades from 0 to 5 are negative and therefore not sufficient.

Integration of disabled children

In 1977, Law 517 in Italy created a basis that required children with disabilities to attend mainstream schools. The special schools founded in 1923 and the special classes that had existed at regular schools since 1908 were thus abolished. However, the schools reserve the right to exclude children with multiple disabilities from teaching. In elementary and middle school, these and particularly weak pupils with learning disabilities receive a special teacher, a so-called "integration teacher", who is exclusively at the side of the disabled pupil during lessons.

Special features here are:

A maximum of four children with disabilities or learning difficulties per class (usually no more than one or two)
A maximum of 20 children per class (from 21 students the class is divided)
A support teacher ( insegnante di sostegno ) for one to four handicapped children (originally he was present 24 hours a week, but this was shortened to 12 hours a week).

Some educational institutions for the blind and deaf and dumb have been retained , of which the Istituto Magarotto is one of the best known.

PISA 2009

In the PISA studies of the OECD occupied Italy since 2000 regularly average places, but the time could improve somewhat in the course. A study differentiated according to Italian regions shows a strong north-south divide, with northern Italian regions regularly above the OECD average. The differences between the different types of schools are also pronounced: the 15-year-olds achieved the best results at grammar schools, followed by technical colleges and then vocational schools. At the very end were the regional vocational schools in southern Italy.

Below is a table showing the results of the 2009 PISA tests in reading, math and science. The results of Italy are compared with those of Germany, Austria and Switzerland as well as with the average of the OECD countries. To illustrate the regional differences in Italy, the results of the top-ranked region Lombardy and last-placed region Calabria are added. With the exception of reading skills, the overall result for South Tyrol was above average in 2009; the German-speaking schools in the state generally showed above average results.

country	Reading skills	mathematics	Natural sciences
Italy	486	483	489
- Lombardy	522	516	526
- Calabria	448	442	443
- South Tyrol	490	507	513
Austria	470	496	494
Germany	497	513	520
Switzerland	501	534	517
OECD average	493	496	501

In the 2012 PISA study, Italy improved marginally: the mean values were 490 in reading, 485 in mathematics and 494 in science. The aforementioned sharp north-south divide was confirmed again. The PISA results in German-speaking schools in South Tyrol in reading competence (503), mathematics (513) and natural sciences (530) met expectations.

Colleges

Universities

Before the start of the Bologna Process , undergraduate university studies in Italy could take three to six years, depending on the subject. From the end of the 1980s, the three-year, practice-oriented courses of study played roughly the role of the universities of applied sciences in German-speaking countries. For the majority of courses, a standard study period of four years used to apply , for engineers it was five, and for medical professionals six. The four-year courses were finally extended by one year. The Bologna Process is also controversial in Italy. In some subjects, the first degree has been abolished after three years of study. After the master’s degree, there are further postgraduate specializations , which can usually be completed in two years. A PhD study takes at least three years.

In addition to the normal state universities, there are also technical universities (which still have the old name Politecnico ), foreign universities and open universities in Italy . In addition, there are universities sponsored by lower regional authorities and private universities . Several Pontifical Universities are located in Italy, but belong to the Holy See .

Elite universities

Until recently, Italy did not have its own system of elite universities as in France. Some state universities have a better reputation than others, sometimes also because of their long tradition and the resulting self-image.

Nevertheless, the currently developing state elite universities go back to a French foundation: the 200-year-old Scuola Normale Superiore in Pisa. It is an institution that offers selected students, in addition to their normal studies at the University of Pisa, an additional academic program and some other services. Admission is already possible in the first year of study, or after the bachelor's or master's examination for a doctoral degree. Other independent institutions of this type are currently located in Pisa ( Sant'Anna ), Pavia , Trieste , Florence and Lucca . Individual universities have set up something similar under the names Scuola Superiore , Istituto Superiore or Collegio Superiore , with the intention of later making these institutes legally independent based on the Pisan model.

Private elite universities such as LUISS in Rome often charge very high tuition fees .

Other universities

The tertiary education area also includes the art academies ( Accademia di Belle Arti ), art colleges ( Istituto Superiore per le Industrie Artistiche ), the conservatories , the National Dance Academy ( Accademia Nazionale di Danza ) and the National Acting Academy ( Accademia nazionale d'arte drammatica ). These institutions are grouped under the term Alta formazione artistica, musicale e coreutica . In addition, there is the National Film School ( Scuola Nazionale di Cinema ) and a number of specialized private universities. In Rome, there is a state sports university, the Foro Italico University (formerly Istituto Superiore di Educazione Fisica and Italian University of Sport and Movement ) .

Administrative, police, and military academies also have college rank.

Professional colleges

The higher vocational training system ( Istruzione e Formazione Tecnica Superiore ) is new . Participating actors are the secondary schools, universities, companies and associations, as well as regions and subordinate local authorities . The higher vocational training courses generally last two years and are aimed at graduates from secondary schools and state and regional vocational training institutions. The very practice-oriented courses can also be carried out part-time. The completion of a two-year course at an Istituto Tecnico Superiore corresponds to level EQR 5 in the European Qualifications Framework, the less common three-year courses to level EQR 6. The German master schools and professional academies served as models in this area .

Veterinary Faculty of the University of Bologna
University of Catania in Sicily
Cloister of the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Milan

Adult and continuing education

Second-chance education

The subsequent acquisition of a middle or high school diploma often takes place in Italy by attending evening schools . These can be state institutions or evening classes for adults at state schools, or offers from regional institutions or private schools. In the latter case, the year and final exams must be taken at state schools.

The non-pupil examination to obtain the university entrance qualification is also widespread at state secondary schools . In this case, the external candidates, referred to as “privateists”, have to prepare for the exam independently. This is not to be confused with homeschooling for children and adolescents, since the “privatists” are adults who, after completing compulsory schooling, want to catch up on a school-leaving certificate that has not been completed or that has completed higher education. Various, mostly private, institutions offer support in this area as well.

Adult education centers

The first adult education centers ( Università popolare ) emerged in Italy around 1900. Various trade unions and the Italian Socialist Party are considered the founding fathers . After the adult education centers had been suppressed by fascism , dissolved or incorporated into party organizations, they slowly revived after the Second World War under various names ("retirement college, leisure college, open college"). Adult education centers in Italy are usually run by non-profit organizations under private law and charitable associations. Most of the Italian adult education centers are members of the 1982 “National Association of Adult Education Centers ” ( Confederazione Nazionale delle Università Popolari Italiane - CNUPI) or of the “Italian Association for Adult Education” ( Unione italiana di educazione degli adulti - UNIEDA), which in turn are members of the European Association for Adult Education ( European Association for the Education of Adults - EAEA). There is also the Association of Adult Education Centers in South Tyrol.

The thematic offer is generally comparable to that of German adult education centers. In many cases there are collaborations with state universities. Vocational courses lasting several years are often state recognized and are of great social benefit, especially in structurally weak areas with high unemployment. The VHS network is still relatively wide-meshed in various regions of Italy. Many adult education centers only emerged in the last two or three decades.

Others

The further education offer in the field of adult and further education is very heterogeneous and often depends on the needs and initiatives of individual companies or branches of industry. Large government agencies and organizations have their own advanced training facilities , including the Scuola Nazionale dell'Amministrazione or the Centro Alti Studi per la Difesa .

The e-learning has also gained in Italy considerably more important.

history

Before the unification of Italy

Up until the High Middle Ages , school education in the Italian states, as almost everywhere in Europe, remained in the hands of the Church . In the 13th century, church-independent community schools and private schools emerged in various areas, primarily teaching reading and writing in the vernacular . As a rule, after three years of elementary training, especially in financial and commercial centers such as Florence and Venice, they attended an abacus or arithmetic school, which focused on commercial content. There were also grammar schools where Latin was learned and the classics of ancient writers were read. As a rule, only a few boys from a small upper class who were able to continue their education at universities enjoyed such church or classical school education. The more practice-oriented training was not unusual in urban trading circles. In Florence and Venice, for example, around a third of all boys attended school around 1500; the level of literacy was slightly higher because of the private lessons. In the cities, illiteracy among girls was very high, the rule among the rural population. With the Counter-Reformation , the ecclesiastical educational institutions came to the fore again, especially those of the Jesuits , who soon specialized in higher education. Other orders such as the Barnabites or the Somaski made a contribution to popular education in the 17th and 18th centuries. In the 18th century, the first state schools were established in individual Italian states, especially after the Jesuit schools were abolished. Due to a lack of infrastructure and qualified staff, many of these schools soon came under church control again. With the Napoleonic occupation , the educational ideals of the French Revolution came to Italy. The church-independent primary school education should be compulsory and free of charge for all boys and girls, the further education only depends on talent and performance. The ideas could only be partially implemented, but were retained as an ideal by many educators in the restoration period after 1815. The illiteracy rate remained high in Italy until the country was unified, especially in the south. The political changes and system changes made the problem even worse in the second half of the 19th century.

After the agreement

After the unification of Italy in 1861, the regulations of the Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont from 1859 were extended to the whole country. The Piedmontese school system already provided for a division into (exclusively humanistic) high schools (lower level: ginnasio , upper level: liceo ) and vocational schools (lower level: scuola tecnica , upper level: istituto tecnico ) after the then four-year elementary school . Access to the university was almost exclusively possible through the paid grammar schools. According to the regulation from 1859, compulsory schooling was limited to the first two years of the four-year elementary school , which was expanded to include a further grade in 1877, and temporarily a sixth in 1904 (compulsory schooling for six to twelve year olds).

On behalf of the fascist regime , Minister of Education Giovanni Gentile carried out a comprehensive but very conservative school reform in 1923. Compulsory schooling was extended to eight years (for six to 14 year olds) (but not really enforced). After another five-year elementary school, there were two possibilities to continue the educational path: on the one hand, the very elitist high school educational path, on the other hand, sometimes less attractive vocational schools. The gymnasium was divided into a five-year lower and intermediate level ( ginnasio , 3 + 2), in the area of the three-year upper level there was a distinction between the humanistic liceo classico and the scientific liceo scientifico . In addition to the four-year technical schools and the subsequent three or four-year technical colleges ( scuola / istituto tecnico ), the new scuola di avviamento professionale , a three-year vocational school with no further opportunities for advancement, was added. Since 1940, the lower levels of grammar schools and technical schools have been merged into the new scuola media (3 school years), but without including the scuola di avviamento professionale in this process. After long debates, this only happened at the end of 1962, when the scuola media unica merged all lower levels of secondary schools into a three-year unified middle school .

In 1968 the state pre-school ( scuola materna ) was introduced in a systematic way. Her teaching content was based on Maria Montessori . In 1969, after student protests, a reorganization of the upper classes was initiated. Not only the grammar schools, but also the technical colleges and the new vocational schools were made more permeable and eventually all led to higher education entrance qualifications, with the corresponding examination being geared towards new focuses. In the decades that followed, the spirit of these reforms prevailed throughout the school system, although the structure remained largely unchanged. From the mid-1980s there were calls for an extension of compulsory schooling to ten years and for an expansion of the scuola media unica by two grades, with which it should take over the first two classes of the secondary schools. These proposals were repeatedly rejected because of organizational, infrastructural and financial reasons, but above all because of educational reservations about what would then be considered to be too long a common school education for students of different talents. The extension of compulsory schooling introduced in 2000 was abandoned in 2004 for structural reasons and replaced by compulsory vocational training, thus integrating the regions jointly responsible for vocational education into the extension of compulsory schooling and training, thus achieving an acceptable interim solution. In the following years, further modernizations of the existing system followed, which were provisionally completed in 2010.

Since 2013, there has been talk of shortening schooling from 13 to twelve school years. School trials at private and state high schools with only four grade levels have already been initiated. Four-level secondary schools have long been the rule at Italian schools abroad .

Web links

References and comments

↑ With the last school reforms, the names of the grammar schools in South Tyrol were changed in the following cases (the old names in brackets): classical grammar school (formerly humanistic grammar school), real grammar school (scientific lyceum), art grammar school (art school), language grammar school (new language grammar school), social science Gymnasium (pedagogical high school), www.schulreform.bz.it ( Memento from March 15, 2013 in the Internet Archive ), viewed in August 2011

↑ Information from the Italian Ministry of Education on vocational training (pdf, it ,; 1.5 MB) , accessed in February 2012

↑ Prof. S. Giulini, Uni Genoa, on www.unibocconi.it with a link to Pisa 2009 (it.)

↑ Details on www.diversabileonline.com ( Memento of the original dated August 29, 2004 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.

↑ Official website of ISISS in Rome with branch offices in Padua and Turin ( Memento of the original from June 27, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . A first school for the blind was founded in Italy in Naples in 1818 (Istituto Santi Giuseppe e Lucia), followed by schools in Padua (Luigi Configliachi, 1838), Milan (Michele Barozzi, 1840) and Rome (Sant'Alessio, 1868). Pasquale Di Pietro and Tommaso Silvestri founded the first deaf-mute school in Italy in Rome in 1784 (the tradition of which is the ISISS preschool and elementary school in Via Nomentana), followed by schools in Naples (1788) and Genoa (1802) and up to In 1885 a total of 15 other state schools for the deaf. @1@ 2

↑ Informative tabular and graphic representation on the official website of the Apulia Education Authority (it.) ( Memento of the original from January 31, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 432 kB), accessed in August 2011 @1@ 2

↑ Official website of the Pedagogical Institute for the German Language Group in South Tyrol (de.) , Viewed in August 2011

↑ INVALSI report on PISA 2012

↑ Info February 2014 on schule.suedtirol.it

↑ Including the Florence Art Academy, founded in 1563 as the Accademia delle Arti del Disegno . The Italian art academies correspond to German art schools . The diplomas were put on an equal footing with the Bachelor and Master . In the course of time, the field of architecture was largely transferred to the universities.

↑ In contrast to the art academies, the focus here is on the needs of industry, especially in the areas of graphics and product design . Hence the term “University of Applied Sciences”.

↑ Italian conservatories have university rank, the degrees were equated with the Bachelor and Master. The music schools mentioned above are often attached to the conservatories. Other music schools are not to be confused with the conservatories (or the musical high schools).

^ Official website of the Accademia Nazionale di Danza (it.) , Accessed in August 2011

^ Official website of the Accademia Nazionale d'Arte Drammatica (it.) , Accessed in August 2011

^ Alta formazione artistica, musicale e coreutica on the website of the Italian Ministry of Education (it.)

↑ Official website of the Scuola Nazionale di Cinema , accessed in August 2019

↑ In these cases, the term “academy” implies that prospective officers or civil servants who are equivalent to them are trained at university level. Training institutions for other prospective civil servants are usually called “schools”, although some of them also offer Bachelor’s courses.

↑ Higher technical education on the websites of the German and Ladin vocational training system in South Tyrol (de.) , Viewed in August 2011

^ Istruzione e Formazione Tecnica Superiore on the Schools and Vocational Training website of the Marche Region (Italian) , accessed in January 2014

^ Deutsches Schulamt Südtirol zu die Abendschulen (pdf, de.) ( Memento of the original from January 31, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2
↑ Confederazione Nazionale delle Università Popolari Italiane (it.)
^ Unione italiana di educazione degli adulti ( Italian )

^ Association of Adult Education Centers in South Tyrol

↑ Monica Ferrari, Federico Piseri: Scolarizzazione e alfabetizzazione nel medioevo italiano , on www.unina.it

↑ University of Florence on the medieval abacus schools (it.)

↑ UIL: 40 anni di scuola media unica. In 1955, an upper level of elementary school was also introduced, which included grades 6 to 8. A comparable compromise had been found at the turn of the century with the corso popolare (5th and 6th grade), then under Gentile with the scuola integrativa (6th to 8th) and under Bottai with the scuola artigiana . In all of these cases the primary school extensions were makeshift. In addition, there were also the lower grades of art schools and conservatories (music schools / music high schools).

↑ Licei di 4 anni? Il ministro: si può fare. Press review from February 28, 2014 on flcgil.it

^ Parte il liceo breve, al San Carlo il diploma in 4 anni . Corriere della Sera, October 25, 2013

↑ Liceo breve, dal 2017/18 piano attivo in altre 60 cassi . La Repubblica, November 8, 2016

↑ See also the well-known Liceo Italiano in Istanbul; List of Italian schools abroad