In Italy, a state-wide school system, or Education System has existed since 1859, when the Legge Casati (Casati Act) mandated educational responsibilities for the forthcoming Italian state (Italian unification took place in 1861). The Casati Act made primary education compulsory, and had the goal of reducing the illiteracy. This law gave control of primary education to the single towns, of secondary education to the Regioni (counties), and the universities were managed by the State. Anyway, even with the Casati Act and compulsory education, in rural (and southern) areas often children weren't sent to school (the rate of children enrolled in primary education will reach 90% only after 70 years) and the illiteracy rate (which was near 80% in 1861) took more than 50 years to halve.
Primary and secondary schools
Today, there are two stages of education in Italy: primary and secondary. Primary school is commonly preceded by 3 years of non-compulsory nursery school (or kindergarten).
Primary school lasts 5 years. Until middle school, the educational curriculum is uniform for all: although one can attend a private or state-funded school, the subjects studied are the same, except in special schools for the blind, the hearing-impaired, and so forth.
Secondary education (Scuole medie) is further divided in two stages: "Medie Inferiori", which correspond to the Middle School grades, and "Medie Superiori", which correspond to the Secondary School level.
The lower tier of "Scuole Medie" corresponds to Middle School, lasts 3 years, and involves an exam at the end of the third year; "Scuole Superiori" lasts from 3 to 5 years. Every tier involves an exam at the end of the final year, required to access the following tier.
The secondary school situation varies, since there are several types of schools differentiated by subjects and activities. The main division is between the "Liceo", the "Istituto Tecnico" and the "Istituto Professionale". Any kind of secondary school that lasts 5 years grants access to the final exam, called Esame di Stato conclusivo del corso di studio di Istruzione Secondaria Superiore or Esame di Maturità. This exam takes place every year in June and July and grants access to any faculty at any University.
The "Liceo" concept was created by Gentile, and in 1923 indicated a specific type of secondary school; today, it rather refers to a class of secondary schools oriented towards the study of the arts and sciences. All of the Licei have some subjects in common, such as Italian Literature, or Mathematics (although the effective number of hours spent on each subject varies), while other subjects are peculiar to a particular type of Liceo (ie. Ancient Greek in the Liceo Classico or Geometrical Drawing in the Liceo Artistico).
The different types of Liceo are:
"Liceo Classico", which features Latin, Ancient Greek, Italian, History and Philosophy as its most important subjects.
"Liceo Scientifico", where the emphasis is more on scientific and mathematical topics, such as geometry, calculus, chemistry or physics - although Latin, Philosophy and literature are also taught in dept. Together with the Liceo Classico is the most prestigious in Italy.
"Liceo Linguistico" puts emphasis on language learning and languages taught are usually English, French, Spanish and German - although recently Russian has been introduced as well.
"Liceo Artistico", which is oriented toward arts teaching - in a theoretical (ie. History of the arts) and practical (ie. drawing sessions) sense.
The "Istitut Tecnico" (Technical Institute), called in Italian ITIS (Istituto Tecnico Industriale Statale, i.e. National Technical/Industrial Institute) and ITC (Istituto Tecnico Commerciale i.e. Technical/Commercial Institute) is more oriented toward practical subjects, such as aeronautics, business administration, computer science and chemistry.
The "Istituto Professionale" offers a form of secondary education oriented toward more practical subjects, enabling the students to start searching for a job as soon as they have completed their studies (sometimes sooner, as some schools offer a diploma after 3 years instead of 5) and is even more specific in terms of vocational course offerings than the "Istituto Tecnico."
"Liceo" education involves a broad, specifically academic curriculum and is generally considered necessary for University preparation.
A typical Italian student is 19 when he or she enters university, while in the UK and other countries, 18 is the more common age.
University
Italian universities have a long history, beginning in medieval times with the establishment of the University of Salerno in the ninth century, and the University of Bologna in 1088. Further universities were founded in the subsequent centuries: the University of Padova in 1222, and two years later the University of Naples founded by Frederick II, the University of Florence, founded in 1308, then the universities of Pisa, Pavia and Turin.
University system
The university system in Italy is closer to that of the United Kingdom than to that of the United States. Students concentrate on one subject throughout their degree, and so the academic major system does not apply. However, sometimes a university can offer different undergraduate courses, each specializing in a different sector of the same subject. For example, in Psychology some courses are more geared toward Cognitive Psychology, others more toward Clinical Psychology, Social Psychology or perhaps Psychology of Work or Evolutionary Psychology.
A typical year in an Italian university is divided into two semesters. Courses last no more than a semester and examinations are held at the beginning of the academic year (September), the middle of the year (mid January to the end of February) and at the end of the year (mid May to mid July). Grades are expressed on a scale from 1 to 30, with 18 being the minimum required to pass an examination.
At the end of each "tier" (Laurea and Laurea Specialistica) there is a final exam, often requiring the exposition of a thesis or dissertion that can be based on original experimental work by the student, or on a review of academic literature. The final grade is determined by means of a weighted mean of the grades of the single courses, usually converted to a scale running from 1 to 110. Since the minimum grade to pass an individual examination is 18, the minimum overall grade is 66. To this is added some points for the dissertation (ranging to 3-4 to 7-12). If the overall score (mean of examination grades plus dissertation points) is more than 110, then a degree cum laude can be awarded.
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 (Licenza Elementare)
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
Year 5, age 18 to 19 (Licenza di scuola superiore, formerly Maturità)
or Formazione professionale (secondary school)
Year 1 triennio, age 14 to 15
Year 2 triennio, age 15 to 16
Year 3 triennio, age 16 to 17 (Qualifica professionale)
Year 1 biennio, age 17 to 18
Year 2 biennio, age 18 to 19 (Licenza professionale, formerly Maturità professionale)
