Key Features of the Education System in Italy

@EUCHRODISplus
Key Features of the Education System in Italy
#CHRODISplus www.chrodis.eu
Annamaria Capra - Sara Coccolo
Referees for Special Needs Education, Social Inclusion and Health Promotion in Schools

Italian school culture
Values and Principles

Italian Constitution
Art 3
All citizens have equal social dignity and are equal before the law, without
distinction of sex, race, language, religion, political opinion, personal and social
conditions. It is task of the Republic to remove economical and social obstacles
which, limiting the liberty and the equality among citizens, actually impede the
complete personal development and the person’s real partecipation of the
political, economical and social life of the Country.
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Art 34
Schools are open to everyone. Primary education, which is imparted for at least eight
years, is compulsory and free. Capable and deserving pupils, including those without
adequate finances, have the right to attain the highest levels of education. The Republic
renders this right effective through scholarships, allowances to families and other
benefits, which shall be assigned through competitive examinations.

Governance
The education system is organized according to the principles of:
• subsidiarity
• and autonomy of institution
The State has exclusive legislative competences on the general organization of the
system. The Ministry of Education is responsable for the general administration of
education at national level.
It has Regional School Offices which garantee the respect of the laws.
Regions have competences in the organization of the regional vocational education
and training system.
Local authorities support the training offer from pre-primary to upper secondary
schools ( transport, maintenace of premises)
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Inclusion
The principle of inclusion applies to:
•Pupils with disabilities and with special education needs
•Pupils from disadvantage background for social and economic reasons
•Immigrant pupils ( from EU and non- Eu countries)
Inclusion is based on these principles:
•Personalization
•Didactic flexibility
•Linguistic support
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The Italian Education System
Both State Schools and Non State Schools belong to the National
Education System.
Non State Schools can be:
•Equal to State Schools – called «paritarie» - they receive state
contribution and can issue equal qualifications like state schools
•Merely private Schools – they are run with private funds and cannot
issue qualifications
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All Schools have a high degree of autonomy
Schools :
• Define curricula
• Widen the educational offer
• Organise teaching school time and the groups of pupils
• Draw up the Educational Offer Plan
• Define internal regulations and share with families the common
responsabilities on education and pupils’ behaviour
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First and second cycle of education
• Early childhood education and care 0-3 year olds
• Pre – primary school 3-6 year olds
• Primary school 6-11 year olds
• Lower secondary education (middle school) 11-14
• Upper secondary school 14-19
• Compulsory education starts at 6 year of age and lasts for 10 years up to 16 years of
age
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Since 2011/2012 Comprehensive school: pre-primary, primary education
and lower secondary education:
•1000 students in each school
•500 students for each school located in little islands, mountain, and in
specific language contest territory
Size of schools: minimum 600 pupils
Average teacher/pupil ratio: about one teacher for 5,1 students.
To ease students’ with disability learning and socialization and inclusion
processes there is a support teacher, one for two students or one for one
student when the diagnosis is very serious.
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Size population of classes
• Pre-primary class: 18 -26 pupils , up to 29 when there is an
increased enrolment but with no children with disability
• Primary: 15-26, until 27
• Lower second level: 18-27 pupils up to 28 when there is an increased
enrolment or even 30 when there is only one class in the school.

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Avarage Number of pupils in class

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Schools co-education
In Italy the co-education begins in the ‘50 and it becomes a
rule with the Educational Reform of Compulsory education in
1963
The schools have begun from a rigid separation between boys
and girls to arrive to mixed groups which represent a path of
growth.
Pietropolli Charmet.

I.C. CENTRO STORICO MONCALIERI
PIEMONTE – ITALY
www.iccentrostoricomoncalieri.gov.it

Content page 1 title
• School Principal and legal representative
Mrs Valeria Maria FANTINO
www.chrodis.eu
• Type of Organisation
Primary level /Secondary level
• Students’ Ages
From 3 to 14 years old.

BACKGROUND
• The IC «Centro Storico» is located in Moncalieri, a small town in the
metropolitan area of Turin capital city of Piedmont, in the north-west of
Italy.
• Our school is a big multidegree school with 1300 students. It includes 3
levels of education, spread in different buildings in town:
• 4 Nursery schools (3-5 year old children),
• 4 Primary schools (6-10 year old children)
• 2 Secondary schools (11-14 year old students)
• The social context is characterized by a certain number of well-off-people
but there are also a good number of families having social and/or
economic difficulties.
• The percentage of foreign students is about 20%, 10% of which coming
from Romania. Foreigners also come from Africa and other countries.
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BACKGROUND AND EXPERIENCE
• Specialized teachers, together with the rest of the teachers team, take care
of all students with special education needs (disabilities, learning
difficulties, etc…). These students are all included in normal classes.
• The Town Council offers the following facilities: a rich, public library;
various educational centres and events; many sport courses at a low cost,
especially for children and young people, often developed in collaboration
with our schools.
• The whole educational community promotes inclusive education and
personalized learning through a territorial network (teachers, families,
doctors, psychologists, social and educational services and others). There is
a deep sharing of information and skills, aiming to create a common, useful
background, from the diagnosis to the treatment of the special needs.
Very important to us, to gain experience in the field of teaching for special
needs, have been the projects “Diversabilità”, which promoted the support
to “special” students, involving many classes in each of our schools.
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PHYSICAL ACTIVITY
what we do, resources, weaknesses
What we do :
•2 h/week of curricular physical activity in all the school orders
•All classes partecipate to Municipality Sport activities (“right to study”)
•Sport and Wellbeing Day
•Internal Sport competitions/tournament
Resorces, strengths:
•All the premises have equipped gyms and/or outdoor areas
•During the school year there are one /two interventions by external experts
•Secondary school classes use textbooks and follow theoretical lessons on physical activity
Weaknesses:
•The teacher of Physical education is not provided by law in primary school .
•We need more physical activity facilities
•Lack of outdoor activities
•Road safety course needs to be proposed
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I.C. RITA LEVI MONTALCINI TORINO
PIEMONTE – ITALY
www.icmontalcini-to.gov.it

School principal: Mrs Laura DI PERNA
Type of Organisation:
Primary level /Secondary level
Students’ Ages: 3-14 yrs
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Pre primary school
(nursery school)
3-6 yrs
Alfieri Primary school
6-11 yrs
Pascoli
Secondary
(middle
school)
11-14 yrs
170 children
The “Via Collegno”
Nursery School
The “Casa dei
Bambini”
Montessori
Nursery School
704 pupils
30 classes
6 sections
Different types of timetable:
20 classes at 40 hours per week,
5 classes at 27 hours per week,
5 Montessori classes at 24/27
hours per week.
300 students
12 classes
4 sections

BACKGROUND
The school is based in the Historic district “Città di Torino”, this area has undergone a
complete Urban and Social transformation. It was a Residental area and now is a Public
Services and offices Area (Turin Court, headquarters of Città’
Metropolitana/Metropolitan City Offices, the main headquarters of the Intesa San
Paolo Banking Group).
•In the last few years the demographic balance has dropped and the percentage of
recent immigration has caused little changes.
•The social and cultural level is Middle - High
•The majority of Parents are employed in Public Administration.
•The school dropouts is around 1%
•The school principal values are EQUALITY, WELCOMING and INCLUSION referred to
Individual, Cultural and Social differences, enhanced by the fact the school is a
Comprehensive.
www.chrodis.eu

PHYSICAL EDUCATION
What we do
www.chrodis.eu
Pre primary school Primary school Secondary school
Psychomotricity to
promote self
consciousness and
psycological, emotional
and motor development
through the pleasure of
reacting, playing and
transforming the
environment and various
materials
2h of Physical education a
week with different sports
experts
2 hours of Physical
education a week with the
School Physical education
Teacher

RESOURCES AND STRENGTHS
•All the structures have Gyms or outdoor areas but not always well equipped
•Theory lessons on Road Safety and Practical lessons on Bike Use
•The School takes part in Public Sports Events with pupils and families participation
(Bimbinbici, Turin Marathon etc).
•During the past year a referee from the school staff was trained on the “Joy of Moving
Method”; this enabled us to organize a course with 13 classes from Primary school and 4
sections from Nursery School.
•During the past school year we tested a project “Count your Steps” (each pupil in a class
received a step counter to know the amount of steps done in a week). For the next school
year we would like to apply this activity to the entire Comprehensive Institute.
•After school time, Sports Activities are proposed with special extra fees by local Sport
Associations
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WEAKNESSES
•Regulations and Laws Do NOT foresee a P.E. teacher in Primary Schools in Italy
•Need to increase Sports Equipment.
•Lack of Outdoor Activities.
•Lack of communication strategies addressed to teachers and parents on the
Importance of Movement and Motor Games for child development and growth.
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Key Features of the Education System in Italy

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