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From Italian Unification to the Gentile Act In Italy, a state-wide school system, or Education System has existed since 1859, when the ''Legge Casati'' (Casati Act) made the responsible for the forthcoming Italian state ( Italian Unification happened in 1861) with the construction of state-funded boarding schools to be funded where existing provision was inadequate (notably in the south of Italy). Public school was meant to be free of charge and compulsory, but until 1877, illiteracy rates in Italy remained very high (close to 77%). Also, although school was compulsory, there were no sanctions made against parents that failed to send their children to school, and attending courses was not obligatory. In 1877, the ''Legge Coppino'' (Coppino Act) set the compulsory school age to 9 years, but still there were no sanctions against parents that failed to send their children to school. In 1904, the ''Legge Orlando'' (Orlando Act) raised the school leaving age to 12, and funded municipalities that could not afford the construction of public schools. Also this act did not have the desired effect of decreasing illiteracy levels. From 1911, with the ''Legge Credaro'' (Credaro Act) the Italian government took the responsibility of providing elementary education to citizens (until 1911, the municipalities were responsible for building schools and providing free education). From the Gentile Act to the present day In 1923, the ''Legge Gentile'' (Gentile Act) set the rules of Italian education, which has not been changed for a long time. Among the changes introduced with this Act, there is the compulsory teaching of the Catholic religion; the raising of the school leaving age to 14 years, the creation of a specific institute for the education of elementary school teachers and the institution of sanctions, fines and strict controls to force parents to send their children to school. The age of compulsory school leaving was raised to 16 and then to 18 in more recent years, and since 1923 there have been a number of changes, both minor and major, in secondary education, but the basic structure of Italian education has not been changed since then. It is worth mentioning that until 1997, if a high school student failed to obtain a passing grade in each subject, he had to undertake an exam at the beginning of September (the academic year usually begins around September 15th), and to repeat the academic year if they fail this exam. But from 1997 to the present day, a student may move up to the next year of secondary school, even if he didn't get a passing grade in some subjects (usually up to three subjects if the grades aren't terrible, i.e. a 5 (the passing grade is a 6.0)) PRESENT SITUATION Nowadays, there are two stages of education in Italy: primary and secondary education. Secondary education (Scuole Medie) is further divided in two: "Medie Inferiori", that correspond to the Middle School, and "Medie Superiori", that correspond to Secondary School. Primary school can be preceded by 3 years of kindergarten, although kindergartens work like in Germany and attending them is not compulsory. Primary school lasts 5 years, and there is no exam; the lower tier of "Scuole Medie" corresponds to Middle School, lasts 3 years and has an exam at the end of the third year, and "Scuole Superiori" lasts another 5 years, with an exam at the end of the last year. So, a typical Italian student is 19 when he can move to the university, while in the UK and other countries is 18. Education until middle school is the same for everyone: although one can go to a private or to a state-funded school, the subjects studied are the same, except for the special school (i.e. for the blind, hearing-impaired, etc...) When it comes to secondary school, the situation is different: there are a lot of different schools, differentiated by subjects and activities. The main division is between "Liceo", "Istituto tecnico" and "Istituto Professionale". The "Liceo" was first created by Gentile, and in 1923 indicated a specific type of secondary school, but now it rather indicates a class of secondary school that are more oriented towards the humanities. The " Liceo Classico " features Latin and Greek as its most important subjects; in the " Liceo Scientifico " Latin is taught, but there are also some scientific topics, such as chemistry or physics. The " Liceo Linguistico " is oriented towards modern languages, and so the most important subjects are usually chosen between English, French, Spanish and German. The last important Liceo is the " Liceo Artistico ", which puts a stress upon the study of art, and ''making'' art too. The " Istituto Tecnico ", called in Italian ''ITIS'', is more related to technical subjects, such chemistry, aeronautics, business administration, computer science, etc... The " Istituto Professionale " is a form of secondary education very oriented toward some job, and is even more specific than the "Istituto tecnico", while the "Liceo", although can oriented towards humanities or languages or science, is a very generic school, covering a broad range of subjects. COSTS State schools have an income-based fee, but are largely funded by the state. A typical year's fee for high school is around €300, and for university can reach €1400 if the student still lives with his family, although all levels of education are free if the family doesn't earn a certain income. Private schools, i.e. schools run by religious organizations, have much higher fees, and there isn't a fixed upper limit. SCHOOL YEARS
Primary Education Scuola elementare (Primary School) Year 1, age 6 to 7 Year 2, age 7 to 8 Year 3, age 8 to 9 Year 4, age 9 to 10 Year 5, age 10 to 11 (there is no longer an exam at this point) Secondary Education Scuola Media (Middle School) Year 1, age 11 to 12 Year 2, age 12 to 13 Year 3, age 13 to 14 (Licenza di Scuola Media) Scuola superiore (Secondary School) Year 1, age 14 to 15 Year 2, age 15 to 16 Year 3, age 16 to 17 Year 4, age 17 to 18 There is no longer a 5 year |
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