I’m constantly asked about school stuff here.
My daughter is in her last year of primary school and next year she will begin her secondary education at school.
Secondary education in Italy lasts 8 years and is divided into two stages: middle school (scuola secondaria di primo grado, also known as scuola media) and high school (scuola secondaria di secondo grado, also known as scuola superiore). Middle school lasts three years (roughly from age 11 to 14), and high school lasts five years (roughly from age 14 to 19). Every tier involves an exam at the end of the final year, required to earn a degree and have access to further education. Both in middle school and high school, students stay in the classroom for most of the time (barring such classes as physical education, which most often takes place in the gym), so it is the teachers who have to move from one classroom to another during the day.
In the lower middle school pupils start school at 8:00 am and finish at 1:00 pm (they may start later; they have a five-hour daily schedule, excluding variations), while in high school they attend school 5 to 8 hours a day depending on the day of the week and on the rules of the school. Usually, there are no breaks between each class, but most schools have a recess that lasts 15 to 30 minutes halfway through. If students have to stay in school even after lunch, there's a longer break to let them eat and rest.
There are three types of high school, subsequently divided into further specialization. There are subjects taught in each of these, such as Italian, English, mathematics, history, but most subjects are peculiar to a particular type of course (i.e. ancient Greek in the Liceo Classico, business economics in the Istituto tecnico economico or scenography in the Liceo Artistico):
Liceo (lyceum)
The education received in a Liceo is mostly theoretical, with a specialization in a specific field of studies which can be:
humanities and antiquity (liceo classico),
mathematics and science (liceo scientifico),
foreign languages (liceo linguistico),
psychology and pedagogy (liceo delle scienze umane),
social science (liceo economico-sociale),
fine arts (liceo artistico).
Also, some schools have special options with more hours for some subjects, some lessons taken in English, or some different courses (called indirizzi) like liceo scientifico has "indirizzo liceo scientifico" (or "indirizzo tradizionale"), with latin, or "indirizzo liceo scientifico-scienze applicate" where there's not latin, there is informatics.
Institutions tecnico (technical institute)
The education given in an Istituto tecnico offers both a wide theoretical education and a specialization in a specific field of studies (e.g.: economy, administration, technology, tourism, agronomy), often integrated with a three/six months internship in a company, association or university, from the third to the fifth and last year of study.
Istituto professionale (professional institute)
This type of school offers a form of secondary education oriented towards practical subjects (engineering, agriculture, gastronomy, technical assistance, handcrafts), and enables the students to start searching for a job as soon as they have completed their studies, sometimes sooner, as some schools offer a diploma after three years instead of five.
Any type of high school which lasts 5 years grants access to the final exam, called esame di maturità or esame di stato, that takes place every year between June and July and grants access to university. This exam consists of an oral examination and written tests. Some of them, like the Italian one, are the same for each school, while others are different according to the type of school. For example, in the Liceo classico students have to translate a Latin or ancient Greek text; in the Liceo scientifico students have to solve mathematics or physics problems; and so on. An Italian student is usually 19 when they enter university.
Secondary education in Italy lasts 8 years and is divided into two stages: middle school (scuola secondaria di primo grado, also known as scuola media) and high school (scuola secondaria di secondo grado, also known as scuola superiore). Middle school lasts three years (roughly from age 11 to 14), and high school lasts five years (roughly from age 14 to 19). Every tier involves an exam at the end of the final year, required to earn a degree and have access to further education. Both in middle school and high school, students stay in the classroom for most of the time (barring such classes as physical education, which most often takes place in the gym), so it is the teachers who have to move from one classroom to another during the day.
In the lower middle school pupils start school at 8:00 am and finish at 1:00 pm (they may start later; they have a five-hour daily schedule, excluding variations), while in high school they attend school 5 to 8 hours a day depending on the day of the week and on the rules of the school. Usually, there are no breaks between each class, but most schools have a recess that lasts 15 to 30 minutes halfway through. If students have to stay in school even after lunch, there's a longer break to let them eat and rest.
There are three types of high school, subsequently divided into further specialization. There are subjects taught in each of these, such as Italian, English, mathematics, history, but most subjects are peculiar to a particular type of course (i.e. ancient Greek in the Liceo Classico, business economics in the Istituto tecnico economico or scenography in the Liceo Artistico):
Liceo (lyceum)
The education received in a Liceo is mostly theoretical, with a specialization in a specific field of studies which can be:
humanities and antiquity (liceo classico),
mathematics and science (liceo scientifico),
foreign languages (liceo linguistico),
psychology and pedagogy (liceo delle scienze umane),
social science (liceo economico-sociale),
fine arts (liceo artistico).
Also, some schools have special options with more hours for some subjects, some lessons taken in English, or some different courses (called indirizzi) like liceo scientifico has "indirizzo liceo scientifico" (or "indirizzo tradizionale"), with latin, or "indirizzo liceo scientifico-scienze applicate" where there's not latin, there is informatics.
Institutions tecnico (technical institute)
The education given in an Istituto tecnico offers both a wide theoretical education and a specialization in a specific field of studies (e.g.: economy, administration, technology, tourism, agronomy), often integrated with a three/six months internship in a company, association or university, from the third to the fifth and last year of study.
Istituto professionale (professional institute)
This type of school offers a form of secondary education oriented towards practical subjects (engineering, agriculture, gastronomy, technical assistance, handcrafts), and enables the students to start searching for a job as soon as they have completed their studies, sometimes sooner, as some schools offer a diploma after three years instead of five.
Any type of high school which lasts 5 years grants access to the final exam, called esame di maturità or esame di stato, that takes place every year between June and July and grants access to university. This exam consists of an oral examination and written tests. Some of them, like the Italian one, are the same for each school, while others are different according to the type of school. For example, in the Liceo classico students have to translate a Latin or ancient Greek text; in the Liceo scientifico students have to solve mathematics or physics problems; and so on. An Italian student is usually 19 when they enter university.
26-30, F
