2. Recent changes in the Education System in Italy
• schools have gained a wide autonomy as for teaching,
organisation, research and experimentation;
• the gradual passage from a neat separation between education
paths, offering mainly theoretical teaching contents, destined to the
future ruling class, and paths aimed at an early professionalisation,
to a unitary system that tends to postpone the diversification into
education and training paths;
• a gradual extension of compulsory education up to 18 years of
age
• the passage from the old concept of school assistance to the
concept of “right to study”, that is the right for capable, deserving
students without means to reach the higher study levels as well as
the right to study for disabled students.
3. General structure and defining moments in
educational guidance
The education system includes at present what
follows:
• Pre-primary school (non-compulsory) for children between 3
and 6 years of age; enrolment can be anticipated at 2 years and 4
months of age;
• Primary education for children between 6 and 11 years of age;
enrolment can be anticipated at 5years and 4 months of age;
• Lower secondary school for children between 11 and 14 years
of age
• Upper secondary school made up of different kinds of schools
and, generally, for students from 15 to 19 years of age.
Access to both university and non-university higher education is
reserved for students after passing the State exam at the end of
upper secondary school.
Vocational training courses are run by local authorities and can be
attended by people who have reached 15 years of age.
4. General administration at national
level
• At national level, the Ministry is organised in 3 Departments
MINISTRY (3 Departments)
Department for
ministerial planning
and management of
national budget,
human
resources and
information
Department
for education
Department for
university, Artistic and
music high education
and for scientific and
technological research.
5. General administration at regional level
The offices responsible for the State school administration are the Uffici scolastici
regionali (Regional School Offices) peripheral offices with its own administrative
responsibility .
The Ufficio scolastico regionale carries out its functions in connection with the
Department For education. It supervises the implementation of school orders, the
efficiency of the Educational activities and the standards’ respect; it promotes the
individuation of the educational needs and the development of its offer on the territory in
collaboration with the region and local authorities; it cares of the implementation of
national policies for students, it formulates its own proposals for the assignment of
financial and human resources to the Directorate General and the department for
education.
The Centri Servizi Amministrativi (CSA) carry out assistance activities, at the
provincial
or sub-provincial level, for autonomous schools as for administrative and accounting
procedures; activities concerning the allocation of human resources to the single
schools; activities concerning support to schools for planning and innovation of the
educational offer and integration with the other local actors; activities concerning the
support and development of school networks.
6. General administration at local level
• Local administration includes Provinces and
Communes, which have responsibilities in
different areas and levels of the education
system.
Welfare measures include: free transport to
school, canteens in or outside educational
establishments which are free or subsidised,
depending on the economic circumstances of
families, supply of purchase vouchers for
textbooks and financial grants.
7. Educational institutions, administration,
management
Law 15 March 1997, no. 59 grant to schools autonomy in teaching,
administration, research activities, experimentation and development.
For this purpose, each school prepares the Piano dell’Offerta
Formativa, Plan of Formative Offer (PTOF), which is the
fundamental document of the cultural and planning identity of the
school. It must reflect cultural, social and economic requirements of
The local reality, taking into consideration the local planning of the
educational offer.
The POF includes the different methodological options, including those
of Minority groups; it is devised by the Teachers’ Assembly (Collegio
dei docenti) on the basis of general objectives defined by the (Consiglio
di istituto), taking Into account proposals of organisations and
associations of Parents and, as far as upper secondary schools are
concerned also of students associations. It must be approved by the
School Council and it is available to the public and given to students
and their family on the point of the enrolment.
8. School autonomy includes:• :
1. Teaching autonomy. Schools organise school time and teaching
time in the way which is better suited to the study and learning
rhythms; therefore, they can adopt the flexibility required: in fact,
the annual number of hours for any single subject can be organised
into separate modules; teaching units can be not necessarily
structured into teaching hours; groups of pupils of the same class or
of different classes as well as of courses of different years can be
arranged into modules; subjects can be grouped by subject areas.
2. Organisation autonomy. Schools are allowed to decide how to
use their teaching resources; schools can adjust the school calendar,
established by the Regions, to the POF’’s requirements; schools can
organise in a flexible way the overall timetable for the curriculum
and for any single subject
3. Autonomy in research, experimentation and development is
implemented as follows: through the planning of the educational
offer and assessment research; through training and professional
up-dating of the school personnel; through methodological and
curricular innovation; through educational documentation, exchange
of information, experiences and didactical material
9. Pre-primary, primary, lower and upper
secondary education
In Pre-primary, primary, lower and upper secondary education management
and supervision functions are performed by the same bodies. Their roles and
functions are the following:
• The Headmaster (Dirigente Scolastico) is legally responsible for the
overall management of the institution, of financial and material resources
and for the quality of the service provided.
• The Director of General and administrative services (D.S.G.A)
supervises the administrative and general services of the school education
and co-ordinates the pertaining staff.
• The School Council is made up of elected representatives of teaching and
non-teaching staff, parents and, in upper secondary schools, students. The
Headmaster is an ex-officio member. The Chairman is elected from among
parents’ representatives. The Council deliberates on the purchase, renewal
and maintenance of school equipment and teaching material, library
endowments and consumer material for classes. It approves the POF and,
in keeping with the organisation of school life and activities, it decides on
the use of premises and equipment, cultural, sport and recreational
activities, cooperation with other schools
10. The Teachers’ Assembly (Collegio dei docenti) is made up of the permanent
and temporary teachers from each primary school group or secondary school
and is chaired by the Headmaster. It formulates the POF taking into account
proposals and opinions expressed by parents’ associations and organisations as
well as by associations of students of upper secondary schools. Furthermore,
the Teachers’ Assembly periodically evaluates the general development of
didactics to check its efficacy in keeping with the planned objectives, and
proposes, wherever necessary, appropriate measures to improve educational
activities.
The Intersection Council (Consiglio di intersezione) for pre-primary schools
and the Interclass Council (Consiglio di interclasse), for primary schools
consist of teachers from all classes or parallel sections and by one parent
elected for each class or section.
The Class Council (Consiglio di classe) at lower secondary school level is made
up of all the teachers of the class, four parents’ representatives, elected by and
among the parents of all pupils in the class, and the Headmaster who chairs the
Council or delegates this task to one of the class teachers. Two student
representatives and two parents’ representatives also serve on the Council in
upper secondary schools
11. Post-compulsory education/upper secondary and
post-secondary level
Types of education
Secondo ciclo dell’istruzione (second cycle of education)
Classical education ) (Age 14-19)
Liceo classico (classical upper secondary school)
Liceo scientifico (scientific upper secondary school)
Liceo linguistico (linguistic upper secondary school)
Liceo socio-psico-pedagogico (upper secondary school with a sociological-
psycological and pedagogical orientation)
Artistic education
Liceo artistico (artistic upper secondary school) Age 14-18/19
Istituti d’arte (art schools) Age 14-17/19
Technical education Age 14-19
Istituto tecnico (technical school)
Vocational education
Istituto professionale (vocational school) Age 14-17/19
12. Initial training of teachers
Initial teacher training is still offered by universities; teachers of
pre-primary schools and primary schools have to attend the laurea
(Degree) course in primary education sciences, while teachers of
secondary schools, after having obtained a laurea, have to attend a
specific Specialization school, scuola di specializzazione (SSIS) with
a limited intake. Teachers who want to specialise also in support to
disabled pupils, receive an additional training provided within the
ordinary initial teacher training infact students with special needs
are integrated into mainstream education and specialist support is
provided.
The laurea in primary education sciences and the diploma di
specializzazione qualify to teach and are requirements to take part
to competitive examinations for the teaching places cattedre di
insegnamento for pre-primary schools, primary schools and
secondary schools.
13. Higher education
There are two main types of higher education: university and non-university
higher education. After the Bologna Declaration in 1999, the Italian higher
education system has undergone a substantial reform. In accordance with
Ministerial Decree n. 509/99, the degree university sector is now based on two
main cycles (a three-year Laurea, followed by a two-year Laurea specialistica
corresponding to a 3+2 framework).
The non-university sector covers such fields as Higher education in the arts and
music (Alta formazione artistica e musicale – AFAM), language mediation
(Scuole superiori per la mediazione linguistica – SSML), higher technical
education and training (Istruzione e formazione tecnica superiore – IFTS) and a
few more.
Applicants must have the upper secondary school leaving certificate (diploma di
esame di Stato), or a foreign comparable qualification. Admission to the degree
courses in medicine and surgery, dentistry, veterinary medicine, architecture is
regulated by numerous clausus at national level. Anyway, as concerns
other subject fields, possible selection procedure at point of entry is decided at
institutional level.
14. Teaching and learning of Foreign languages
Since 2003/04, a foreign language has been included as a compulsory
subject from the first year of primary education from the age of 6
onwards .
In the one or more final years at ISCED level 3, foreign language
teaching is no longer compulsory, the situation depends on the type of
education and/or area of study. Pupils at a liceo artistico do not learn a
foreign language as a compulsory subject unless they enrol in an
experimental class, for which the school may make the teaching of a
foreign language compulsory.
English is the most widely taught foreign language in primary
education. French is the second most widely taught language.
Two foreign languages are not available to all pupils but may be
Offered within the flexible curriculum, and the second foreign
language is introduced in lower secondary education.
Foreign languages are taught in primary education by general teachers,
who are qualified to teach all (or almost all) subjects in the curriculum,
while specialist teachers are required to teach foreign languages in
lower and upper secondary education. Teachers are qualified to teach
solely foreign languages.
