Chapter 24: National Policies and Practices on ICT in Education: Italy

In Italy, the basic principles related to education (as laid down in the Italian constitution) include free education as a right for every citizen. It is the state’s duty to provide a network of education institutions of every type and level, open to everyone, without distinction. Private individuals also have the right to set up schools. In Italy, formal schooling has two cycles. The first one is primary and lower secondary schooling; the second one is upper secondary schooling and vocational education. The full education system consists of:

This structure is outlined in Figure 24.1.

The period of compulsory schooling lasts from ages 6 through 16.² Students who decide to go further can complete their upper secondary studies by sitting a public state examination. Access to both university and non-university higher education is reserved for students who have passed this examination. Vocational training courses are run by local authorities and can be attended by people between ages 16 and 25, and sometimes even older. The lower secondary school leaving certificate, the Diploma di licenza media, is needed to gain access to upper secondary school.