The Italian education system has undergone several reforms since its establishment in 1859. The Casati Act in 1859 made primary education compulsory and increased literacy. In 1923, the Gentile Act raised compulsory education to age 14 and established a ladder system for primary, middle, and secondary options. In 1962, all children until age 14 were required to follow a single program encompassing primary and middle school. Recent reforms have narrowed gaps between genders and created more secondary school choices, though current reforms do not fully consider human potential and are overly bureaucratic.

1. School system in Italy

2. Historical reforms
 In Italy a state school system or Education System has existed since 1859, when the Legge Casati 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 increasing literacy.
 The next important law was the Legge Gentile. This act was issued in 1923, when National Fascist Party were in
power. The compulsory age of education was raised to 14 years, and was somewhat based on a ladder system:
after the first five years of primary education, one could choose the 'Scuola media', which would give further
access to the "liceo" and other secondary education, or the 'avviamento al lavoro' (work training), which was
intended to give a quick entry into the low strates of the workforce.
 In 1962 the 'avviamento al lavoro' was abolished, and all children until 14 years had to follow a single program,
encompassing primary education (scuola elementare) and middle school (scuola media).
 From 1962 to the present day, the main structure of Italian primary (and secondary) education remained
largely unchanged, even if some modifications were made: a narrowing of the gap between males and females
(through the merging of the two distinct programmes for technical education, and the optional introduction of
mixed-gender gym classes), a change in the structure of secondary school (legge Berlinguer) and the creation
of new licei, 'istituti tecnici' and 'istituti professionali', giving the student more choices in their paths.
 In 1999, the Italian university system switched from the old system (vecchio ordinamento, which led to the
traditional 5-year Laurea degree), to the new system (nuovo ordinamento). The nuovo ordinamento split the
former Laurea into two tracks: the Laurea triennale (a three-year degree akin to the Bachelor's Degree),
followed by the 2-year Laurea specialistica (Master's Degree), the latter renamed Laurea Magistrale in 2007.

3. The latest reforms implemented do not take into account all the human potential,
so are too bureaucratic and not very oriented to the humans.
Reflections
From our point of view, the Italian school system should take into serious consideration
the approach of multiple intelligences proposed by Howard Gardner.