THE ITALIAN EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM:
SIX PROPOSALS
FOR MEETING THE EMERGENCY
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
September 2008
SUMMARY
THE ITALIAN
EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM:
SIX PROPOSALS
FOR MEETING
THE EMERGENCY
1 THE REASON BEHIND THIS STUDY: THE EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM AND THE EMERGENCY
2
IN EDUCATION
2 PROPOSALS FOR ACTION AND THE “SPARK” TO IGNITE THE PROCESS OF CHANGE
2.1
Impact of the proposals
3 EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM PLAYERS
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
THE ITALIAN
EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM:
SIX PROPOSALS
FOR MEETING
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
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Please refer to The European House-Ambrosetti,
Lettera Club no.3 “L'emergenza educativa (prima
parte)”.
1 THE REASON BEHIND THIS STUDY: THE EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM AND THE EMERGENCY
IN EDUCATION
Through the development of the quality of its human capital, the educational system of a country
contributes to its overall growth and attractiveness.
The educational quality of a country depends on many factors. Above all, on how its various players
interact, each of them contributing values, intellectual instruments and training in the use of these
instruments.
In terms of the processes through which educational system players provide the individual with the
above contributions, the following should be noted.
• In this study, the term “education” stands for definition, assimilation and translation into concrete
behavior of a scale of values that serve as guidelines for life, making it possible for the individual
to identify priorities .
Therefore, through accentuating individual self-responsabilization, education must guarantee the
ability to maintain a point-of-reference within a context in continuous flux, or the possibility to
redefine the point-of-arrival through identifying solid, fundamental values.
• Alongside this process there is also that of training (or instruction) which is the conferring of
intellectual instruments and the preparation required to translate educational values into
practice.
The players in the educational system are: the school, the family, the mass media, peers and other actors
(such as companies, both religious and other organizations, local authorities, etc.), each of which gives
a contribution in terms of values, intellectual instruments and training in the use of these intellectual
instruments in varying measures and degrees, as shown in the figure on page 3. At the same time, the
players in the educational system are all interdependent: if they act on their own, in isolation, the
educational plan will fail.
THE ITALIAN EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM: SIX PROPOSALS FOR MEETING THE EMERGENCY
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PLAYERS
INTENSITY OF IMPACT ON EACH CONTRIBUTION
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
School
Family
Mass Media
Peers
Associations, business, etc.
CONTRIBUTIONS
VALUES
INTELLECTUAL
INSTRUMENTS
TRAINING
(in how to utilize
intellectual instruments)
INDIVIDUAL
Figure 1 - Educational system model (Source: The European House-Ambrosetti)
The Italian educational system presents a number of problematic aspects:
„ in 2006, the international PISA program (which monitors reading, maths and science literacy in
fifteen-year-olds) revealed that the overall level of preparation of Italian students was inferior
to that of major OECD countries (object of special analysis);
„ nonetheless, analysis of national data highlights two phenomena. The first is that 52% of the
national results can be explained by the variance between schools (against an OECD average of
33%). Secondly, on a national level, results vary depending on the geographic location of the
schools: the best performance levels were recorded in northern Italy (above the OECD average),
against the very low results from southern areas;
„ there are also problematic aspects regarding the teaching staff:
• the first in terms of preparation, which in many cases does not take into consideration the
evolution in the ways students learn and their language, making teacher/student communication
difficult;
• the second involves professional motivation. In fact in Italy there is significant pessimism
among teachers about their profession: 75% of secondary school teachers believe that the
social prestige of their role has decreased in the last ten years and 48% believe that
prestige will diminish over the next ten years;
• pay levels are low compared with other European countries and there are no appropriate
channels for career advancement;
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The survey involved a
sampling of 1,600 individuals total, drawn from a
population of between 18
and 65 years of age in the
following countries: Italy,
Germany, the United States, India, China and Japan.
The Advisory Committee is comprised of Gherardo Colombo (Vice President of Garzanti, former
District Attorney in the District Attorney's Office of
Milan); Vincenzo Giori (Managing Director, Siemens
Spa) and Giacomo Vaciago
(Professor of Political Economy and Director of the
Istituto di Economia e Finanza at the Università Cattolica of Milan).
„
nor are adults unaffected by the educational emergency. In their case, one could speak of a
widespread “cultural incompetence” caused by scant reading of books and newspapers and low
attendance of dedicated education courses;
„ unquestionably, the educational emergency involves the entire country. It has been found, in
general, that:
• a concrete sense of nation is not very widespread and there is a clearly-widening rift between
official institutions in the country and the populace at-large, evidenced in the perception of
corruption at all levels of public life;
• the tendency to attribute excessive importance to personal connections and relationships, or
even fate, is widespread, instead of concentrating on individual efforts and merit.
The Italian educational system, as the result of the influence of its various players, has been compared
with other countries around the world in order to highlight the fundamental aspects of the educational
models in a number of major nations. Where possible, the aim was to outline best practice examples
to be imported into the Italian system, naturally adapting them to that particular context.
In Europe, the countries examined have been Germany, France and Great Britain. The reason behind
the choice of these is related to their different types of educational models, useful to draw interesting
aspects to build the Italian one ("continental-European" for France and Germany and, naturally, "AngloSaxon" for Great Britain). Others regions that have been taken into account include the United States,
China, India and Japan. Despite the fact that they represent contexts quite different from that in Europe,
they are unquestionably of prime relevance on the contemporary international scene.
According to the brief description above, the objectives of this study are to:
„ formulate a number of highly-concrete and implementable proposals to optimize the system
strategically and competitively, and not solely from an academic standpoint;
„ profile the structure of an educational system and the interaction between its component players;
„ identify the problematic areas in Italy (with special focus on the regional school system), also
on the basis of the international comparisons made with a number of key countries.
From a methodological standpoint, an international survey has been carried out which investigated the
perception of the populations in the countries examined regarding a number of key educational issues.
This study involved the collaboration of two key players: the Advisory Committee and The European
House-Ambrosetti working group. In addition to this, a number of opinion leaders and Italian and
international experts have been added to contribute with recommendations, suggestions and top-level
ideas.
In order to guarantee an optimal mix between aspects based on critical examination of education and
empirical data to support the main results of the study, a multi-level approach has been utilized
consisting of:
„ periodic meetings with the Advisory Committee;
„ interviews on an international scale with leading figures and members of relevant private and
public institutions, economists, experts, researchers and opinion leaders;
„ analysis by The European House-Ambrosetti working group.
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2 PROPOSALS FOR ACTION AND THE “SPARK” TO IGNITE THE PROCESS OF CHANGE
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The proposals have been divided into five working areas that correspond to the players in the educational
system, i.e., school, family, media, peers, other actors (associations, Catholic Church and other religious
organizations, business and local authorities). In some cases, the proposals are cross in nature because
they involve a number of players simultaneously.
The proposals have also been arranged on the basis of the level of distinctiveness of the actions
suggested which impact upon the position and international attractiveness of the country in terms
of education (see figure on page 6).
From this standpoint, the proposals have been grouped into 3 levels:
„ basic requirements, actions aimed at removing the main problematic areas in the educational
system and at allowing it to function properly, thus eliminating the obstacles to its development;
„ gap filler, actions required to bring Italy to the same level as its competitors. Overall, this level
of proposals is trying to attain a level of efficiency and appeal comparable to the current one
in the main countries competing with Italy;
„ keys to success, actions that render the Italian educational system top-level and unique with
respect to other countries.
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GAIN COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGES
Actions to get a step ahead
of the competitors
REDUCE DISTANCES
Actions to get to the same
level as the competitors
REMOVE PROBLEMS
Actions to make
the system functional
SCHOOL
KEYS
TO SUCCESS
LEVEL OF DISTINCTIVENESS
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
GAP FILLER
BASIC
REQUIREMENTS
FAMILY
MASS MEDIA
PEERS
ORGANIZATIONS
Figure 2 - Subdivision of the proposals for action (Source: The European House-Ambrosetti)
Each proposal has been broken down as follows:
„ content, provides “what” it is considered important to be done, while also describing the
objectives to be met and a number of examples of possible means for implementing the
proposal;
„ why (empirical data), illustrative summary of the current situation and the problematic situations
that form the basis for the specially-tailored proposals;
„ significant comparisons with other countries or initiatives by international institutions, developed
to provide useful recommendations for improving the Italian educational system;
„ costs and targets, each proposal includes hypothetical costs for its implementation or targets
to be met.
The impact - benefits associated with implementation of the proposals - has also been calculated. For
this purpose, two types of impact have been identified and the logic behind each will be explained
in the final section.
The proposals have been preceded by what has been called the “spark”, a further initiative whose
purpose is to activate the process of change by capturing the attention and interest of public opinion.
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Spark
An ”open” fundation to
promote scientific culture
Social network and
media contributing
to education
(effects on all players)
(effects on all players)
An educational model
for Italy that combined
excellence
and equality
Permanent training and
evaluation for lifelong
employability
(effects on school, family,
mass media, and other players)
360° reinforcement
of school evaluation systems,
with more motivated
teachers
SCHOOL
Social policy to strengthen
the family role as support
for education
(effects on family
and other players)
FAMILY
MASS MEDIA
PEERS
ORGANIZATIONS
Figure 3 - Distribution of the proposals within the pyramid (Source: The European House-Ambrosetti)
“The Spark”: establish an annual prize, launched on the Net, for a video game that promotes
the ability to think logically and work with others (for the public good). On a more general level,
this prize should contribute to boost a pro-science context and the values of personal merit and
responsibility.
The prize would be sponsored by the Presidency of the Council of Ministers (in order to underscore
the multi-sector nature of the initiative) and directed by both profit and non-profit public and private
bodies.
Game requirements would include:
„ it is aimed at young people between the ages of 13 and 17;
„ it has high-communications impact (in order to promote the abilities and values described);
„ it is awarded to the game which obtains the highest number of visitors compared with the top
five internet benchmark sites selected;
„ there is also a prize for the player who wins the game.
All the game proposals would be examined by a special mixed commission that would make its
selection on the basis of the educational strategy pursued by the government and with the objectives
described.
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Proposal 1 - An educational model for Italy that combines excellence and equality.
The proposal aims at reforming the Italian educational system through three lines of action that
assume a radical change in the basis of the Italian educational system (without doing away with the
points of excellence that already exist in the system):
„ adoption of a mixed educational model that combines the objective of promoting equality
with the development of individual talents;
„ abandoning of the traditional subdivision of schools by type (lyceums, technical and
professional institutes);
„ abolition of the state secondary school exam.
In terms of the first point, application of a “mixed” approach in Italy, some aspects of the two models
of reference would be drawn upon:
„ the “European-continental” model that places prime importance on equality for all citizens.
This would be applicable through junior high school. Junior high concludes the first cycle of
general study that is the same for all with the final state exam, obligatory for entering secondary
school. It would increase to 4 years from the current 3 with the goal of enhancing student
maturity and awareness in selecting their subsequent course of study;
„ the “Anglo-Saxon” model, whose primary goal is to develop the talents of each student in order
to promote individual excellence. This model would be applicable in secondary school (and
university).
In addition, this model would not modify the evolution towards the gradual raising of the schoolleaving age, which since the Casati law of 1859 up to the recent law no. 53 passed in 2004, has seen
Italy come into line with other European countries.
On the level of secondary school (which would last 4 years), the various schools would be subdivided
on the basis of the programs offered to the students:
„ university: institutions aimed at access to university study would offer both general and
specialized courses;
„ vocational training: these would be dedicated institutions with the scope to satisfy specific
vocational needs. However, once again, the courses could be of both a general and specialized
nature.
Businesses, associations, local authorities and outside experts would also be involved in the school
curriculums. Nonetheless, the extent of this involvement would be different depending on the type
of school (it would be greater with specialized vocational schools that prepare students for the
workplace). It would be up to the schools to independently find ways to involve these players as
syllabuses are being drawn up.
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University
General courses
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Specialist courses
Workplace
Figure 4 - The “strategic map” of academic institutions (Source: The European House-Ambrosetti)
As already mentioned, the various institutes and courses of study have a "common base" of knowledge,
i.e., those skills and abilities required for the daily life of each individual and which are an educational
goal irrespective of the subject or school selected. Base knowledge covers: being able to reason
logically and make independent judgments; being able to get along with others and have good
citizenship skills; being able to learn on a continuous basis; being able to concretely apply in different
contexts what is learned in school.
Within this context, the relevance of civic education - a veritable emergency in Italy - must be stressed.
This does not mean just introducing once again civics as a required subject, but also involves improving
the civic awareness of young people throughout the entire academic organization: all teaching, as
well as the way classes are organized, must address this.
At the end of secondary school, the current final state exam (maturità) would be replaced by another
type of test that could be used by universities and the workplace to select those seeking entry. The
main features of this new exam include:
„ it would be managed by a third party outside the school;
„ it would be different depending on whether the student desires attending university or entering
the workplace. It would be subdivided into at least two types: an exam developed specifically
for those going on to university and another for those entering the workplace. Within the
context of this basic differentiation, further, more specialized distinctions are possible (for
example, entry into technical/scientific studies as opposed to liberal arts);
„ the exam would be developed based especially on Anglo-Saxon experience with tests, an
approach that has been introduced, in part, also in Italy;
„ students would choose which exam to take on the basis of their course of study and, of course,
their final goal (work, university, etc.). They would be free to sit more than one type of exam,
thus obtaining multiple certificates.
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Proposal 2 - 360° reinforcement of school evaluation systems, with more motivated teachers.
This proposal calls for the introduction of an effective evaluation method of academic systems involving,
simultaneously, performance levels of:
„ academic institutions. The evaluation process, performed by an independent body under the
aegis of the relevant government ministry, would terminate with a final public report that may
be used by families for selecting schools and by the government for rewarding the best institutes
(also economically);
„ teachers. It would be opportune to set up a certifying body for teachers to gain tenure and
replace the current public exam method. In addition to subject-related content, the test would
also evaluate teaching skills and psychological aptitude. Also connected to the evaluation
would be the preparation of a plan to develop teacher skills and motivation;
„ students. Evaluation of competence levels would be based on evaluation methods (standardized,
written tests that would guarantee a higher level of objectivity and would also provide a support
tool for the final exam - Proposal 1) and codification of the results.
In addition, for teachers, the proposal calls for the creation of programs for the development of skills
in terms of content, language, teaching methods and motivation. From this standpoint, certain
provisions are necessary, including:
„ bringing salaries in line with averages in other European countries;
„ preparation of clear-cut career advancement parameters differentiated in terms of level and
type of professional commitment, as well as by salary level. For top positions, it would be
advisable to bring teacher salary levels in line with the maximum received by public officials.
An experimental program similar to the English “Teach First”, or National College for School Leadership
could be introduced. It could also be useful to create a highly prestigious, publicly visible award, such
as a prize for "Teacher of the Year" awarded by the President of the Republic, which could include a
thematic tour to a number of Italian cities.
The teacher training plan is long-term: its suggested duration is 15 years and would be the result of
a bipartisan agreement.
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Proposal 3 - Continuous training and evaluation for lifelong employability.
This proposal is divided into two levels: the first involves acquiring competencies, while the second
refers to monitoring and evaluation of the competencies acquired.
Therefore, the first aspect is to define a national plan for permanent adult learning to make it possible to:
„ maintain active the capacity for independent thinking and analysis of change, including the
goal to optimize openness and flexibility towards the goal of lifelong employability;
„ best fulfill educational and guidance roles.
The plan, prepared by the Presidency of the Council of Ministers in order to underscore the nonpartisan nature of the initiative, has the following general features:
„ to define guidelines and general principles, the plan represents a flexible tool in order to
maximize adaptation to specific local situations;
„ it is managed on a local level with the involvement of public authorities, associations, business,
etc. This outlook is necessary in order to capitalize on specific local requirements (but within
the overall context of the national guidelines).
The second aspect of the proposal involves evaluation of certain competencies in adults through the
drawing up of national standards for quantifying competency levels in baseline “knowledge” for those
working in companies/other organizations. The standards are prepared by a roundtable of representatives
of the areas involved and experts in evaluation and training.
Evaluation of the attainment of this baseline knowledge and competencies occurs on two levels:
„ at the time of hiring. Those making the selection would use a standard model for evaluating
candidate base-level knowledge (those who have just graduated from university or secondary
school and those with work experience looking to change jobs);
„ during the career. Periodically, individuals would be asked to complete the standards module
(structured on the basis of various questionnaires, such as that of the PISA survey).
Both questionnaires would then be sent from the company to the specially-formed monitoring body
for checking and analysis.
When fully implemented, this evaluation would become mandatory for all public authorities and
businesses (except for micro-businesses). Hypothetically, this evaluation of competencies prepared
for those who work in business and other organizations, could be extended to the rest of the adult
population in Italy.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Proposal 4 - Social policy to strengthen the family role as support for education.
This proposal calls for adoption of family support policies to help them in fulfilling their educational
role and remove those factors that curb the growth of the nuclear family. For example, construction
of nursery schools not only by government, but also business, distribution of allowances and other
aid through taxes or promotion of paternity leaves.
This proposal is not intended as interference into individual choices involving the composition and
size of the family. Its goal is to intervene on those contingent factors that prevent Italian families from
increasing their size and to perform their educational role to the best of their ability.
This proposal impacts both on the organization of the family as well as that of companies who must
contribute by creating actions that aid parents in fulfilling their educational role.
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Proposal 5 - Social networks and the media as aids to education.
This proposal involves two communication tools: social networks which, to a certain extent, represent
future relations and information exchange, and television, which constitutes a powerful, pervasive
and established means of communication.
Within the context of the first aspect, this proposal is designed to provide incentive for the development
of virtual venues where to get together and socialize (social network) that are both attractive for
young people (a required condition in order to compete with other places of virtual socialization) and
offer positive educational messages to communicate.
Nonetheless, it is essential that young people receive the tools for selecting information: providing
only the container and the contents is not sufficient, the right instruments for making use of them
must also be provided.
The second part of the proposal calls for the upgrading and reinforcement of the educational mission
of public television (RAI) without entering into the question of its governance.
For its implementation, this proposal suggests a number of actions involving its public service contract:
„ increase in the number of educational channels and programs to be suitably distributed within
television programming. It provides for constraints on broadcasting viewing times, number
of programs on analog and digital channels and scheduling of commercial advertising;
„ establishment of program quality parameters. The public service contract must, in fact, increase
the definition of minimum content level and quality standards for an educational program.
Over the long term, the possibility of raising the television tax could also be considered, the increased
proceeds of which would be tied to financing additional investment into educational programs.
Proposal 6 - An 'open' foundation for promoting a scientific culture.
This proposal consists of the creation of a foundation open to all Italians to promote, in the Country,
the spread of scientific literacy and logic - a scientific culture - that would involve all players in the
educational system, including those foundations already active in similar activities.
Initially, the founding members could be companies, organizations and institutions operating in the
sectors of high-technology and scientific innovation. However, other players, both public and private
sector, could also be included.
The proposal also comprises the creation of an operational body whose specific task would be to
promote involvement and large-scale participation of the population in the activities and mission of
the foundation.
And finally, again on an organizational level, the scientific committee would have the task of drawing
up the yearly calendar of activities for the foundation. For example, its main activities could be:
„ general research and publication;
„ organization of events of mass-appeal for the public (conferences, presentation of studies,
etc.);
„ competitions and awards.
The scientific committee would be comprised of top-level scientific figures who have contributed to
the progress of science and technology in Italy and on a worldwide level.
In order to foster the widest possible distribution of the foundation's program and to increase
participation from the public, the program would be published in major periodicals and on dedicated
internet sites
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2.1
Impact of the proposals
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
As mentioned previously, to estimate the economic benefits from the successful implementation of
the proposals, it was considered best to calculate two types of impact. The first involves the initiatives
aimed specifically at the academic system, while the second includes all the other proposals whose
overall goal is to contribute to improve the system as a whole from a number of different approaches.
Impact of school-related proposals
Various studies have recently investigated the role and impact of the quality of human capital on the
economic growth of a country over the long term and have identified a close connection between
these two aspects.
In particular, it has been hypothesized that a reduction in the standard deviation of the scores in the
PISA test would result in a compacting of the entire system to better results and, therefore, also in
an increase in the average score.
Most probably, with all other factors being equal, improvement in the average quality of human capital
so attained could increase the Italian GDP by 0.25% per year. In essence, 3.3 billion Euro would be
added each year to the potential estimated GDP growth.
In cumulative terms, at the end of a 20-year period, this trend would mean an overall increase in GDP
of 996 billion euros.
1.600.000
1.550.000
1.500.000
1.450.000
1.400.000
1.350.000
1.300.000
1.250.000
1.200.000
1.150.000
Years
1
3
5
7
9
11
13
15
17
18
20
23
Total GDP in millions of euros (prospective)
Total GDP in millions of euros (hypothetical growth, school-related proposals)
Figure 5 - Estimate of the impact of school-related proposals on GDP growth (Source: The European House-Ambrosetti)
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
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Impact of transversal proposals
The impact of the proposals correlated to the overall educational system has been calculated starting
from a two-fold consideration: on the one hand, given that these are “system-related” initiatives, they
contribute to the overall improvement of human capital in a country; on the other, boosting the
potential of human capital in a country is equivalent to boosting the supply of intangible capital of
the country itself.
Nonetheless, to-date, national accounting does not take into consideration the contribution of intangible
capital, despite its importance. In fact, it has been calculated for the United States, that the accounting
of intangible capital would increase by 10% the current level of GDP, as well as increase the rate of
GDP growth by 0.33% each year.
As far as Italy is concerned, recent calculations by the World Bank estimate that the country has an
overall supply of intangible capital worth 15% of that currently possessed by the United States.
If, today, Italy had a supply equal to that of the US, all other conditions being equal, its GDP could
grow at a rate of over 0.3% greater than the current situation.
Nonetheless, considering the gap that exists today between Italy and the US, it is more realistic to
estimate that over a reasonable period of time (approx. 20 years), implementation of the proposals
not directly aimed at the academic system could allow for growth in the Italian intangible capital stock
to a level similar to that of the US today. Were this to occur, it would mean an average rate of growth
in GDP of 0.2% per year, i.e., 2.6 billion euros more each year than planned growth rates. Over a 20year period, the total of these annual increases would generate an additional GDP of 525 billion euros.
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
1.600.000
1.550.000
1.500.000
1.450.000
1.400.000
1.350.000
1.300.000
1.250.000
1.200.000
Years
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
Total GDP in millions of euros (prospective)
Total GDP in millions of euros (hypothetical growth, other transversal proposals)
Figure 6 - Estimate of the impact of transversal proposals on GDP growth (Source: The European House-Ambrosetti)
1.600.000
1.550.000
1.500.000
1.450.000
1.400.000
1.350.000
1.300.000
1.250.000
1.200.000
1.150.000
Years
1
3
5
7
9
11
13
15
17
18
20
23
Total GDP in millions of euros (prospective)
Total GDP in millions of euros (hypothetical growth, school-related proposals)
Total GDP in millions of euros (hypothetical growth, other transversal proposals)
Figure 7 - Estimate of the impact of all proposals on GDP growth (Source: The European House-Ambrosetti)
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
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EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM PLAYERS
The educational system described is the result of the interaction of a range of players (school, family,
media, peers, and others). Everyone, in various ways and to various extent, provides the individual
with contributions in terms of values, intellectual instruments and instruction on how to use these
instruments.
In reference to the school, some background information regarding its historical-legal evolution has
been prepared, focusing above all on a number of changes or periods considered key to defining the
overall structure of the system.
The evolution of the Italian educational system is studded, in fact, with numerous attempts at reform
which have not been that effective, judging from the Italian results in international surveys.
The starting point for the analysis was set at the Gentile school reform in 1923 which put the system
on a “double track” in terms of which path to follow, divided between lyceum (secondary school) and
the workplace. The lyceum was conceived of as an elite school, dedicated to those who intended
pursuing university study. Its curriculum included the classics, considered the only subjects capable
of properly molding an individual, also from a moral standpoint.
A major shift occurred in 1962, when the unified middle school (junior high school) was introduced,
a change from the various post-elementary school alternatives offered by the Gentile reform: the
choice of which path to pursue was thus put off until the age of 13, after the three years of junior
high school attended by all.
The student protests in the late 1960s and early 1970s did not alter the structure of Italian schools,
except to orient it towards a more democratic view of the right to study.
Recent reforms have focused on academic autonomy and, in terms of courses, on the teaching of socalled “technical” aspects and the development, in particular, of computer skills and knowledge of
English. In the meantime certain subjects have been relegated to the background, such as civics, which
has essentially become optional.
Within the Italian situation, four regions have been analyzed in detail (preceded by a brief summary
of the division of responsibilities regarding academic policy between the national government and
the regions): Lombardy, Liguria, Lazio and Campania. The reason behind the choice of these four
regions lies in the significance of their local academic results (above all in terms of the divergence
between the performance of the various regions in both international and national surveys) and the
special aspects of the legislation relative to system organization.
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THE ITALIAN EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM: SIX PROPOSALS FOR MEETING THE EMERGENCY
THE ITALIAN
EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM:
SIX PROPOSALS
FOR MEETING
THE EMERGENCY
In terms of the other players, the study has taken into consideration the contributions supplied by the
family, mass media, peer group and businesses/associations within the educational system.
The prime educational role played by the family has very deep roots because the nuclear family has
always had the task of transmitting basic values. It is both a right and a duty, as recognized in art. 33
of the Italian constitution itself. The family is also the primary source for the building of individual
consciousness of the existence of rules and duties and to communicate the concept that there are
limits on individual freedom which are necessary for the public good.
The media have always played an influence on individual education in virtue of their main function
to transmit given messages. Naturally, the increasing spread of the means of communication, the
broadening of the forms and available tools, together with structural changes within the family, has
made the issue of responsibility for the messages transmitted by these means an especially delicate
one. In other words, with the progressive multiplying of its forms, the mass media today exerts an
influence on education that has grown and spread in direct proportion to the vacuum left by the
family and school.
The influence of peers and current fashion are, in turn, inevitable and significant. The relationship
between peers normally occurs within a context that may or may not be characterized by the presence
of some form of control and guidance of relations (for example, such as in relations within a school
or family context or, vice versa, those that take place within the context of virtual social networks).
Of no less importance are the influences on education from other players, such as associations,
religious organizations, business and local authorities. The fundamental role of the Catholic Church
in educational processes, especially in Italy, is well-known.
Just as well-known is the educational role of business and public administration. In particular, the
ruling class is not only called upon to be aware, but also make aware those who administer, creating
the conditions through which each individual can responsibly choose and safeguard his/her own
future.
THE ITALIAN EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM: SIX PROPOSALS FOR MEETING THE EMERGENCY
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
17
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