There has always been an opportunity for all children to receive an education. In today’s society, being involved with school and pursuing on with it has become mandatory in order to increase the chance of being successful. Education affects the way people live, and determines where a persons life is headed towards. There are many issues dealing with education and are affecting the lives of many people. In order for a person to live life comfortably in today’s world, receiving a degree in college is crucial. The status of education is increasing in knowledge everyday, making it more challenging and competitive for students to receive the best position in their occupation. Education has many importance’s and should be apart of every individuals life. The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development have done research over the past couple of decades and have found come up with the idea that, “education not only enables individuals to perform better in the labor market, but also helps to improve their overall health, promote active Citizenship and contain violence” (Social Benefits). Not only does education provide people with more knowledge, but improves the likelihood of finding an occupation that makes good money. In 1946 the foundations for Italy’s education system were enforced, and ensured that education from nursery school to university level is free. Many students in Italy attend state schools, but there are few that are involved in private schools. The education systems in Italy are fairly similar to the process in which we use in the United States. The first stage of education begins at pre-school followed by primary school, next comes lower and upper secondary school, and lastly higher education. It is required that all kids from the ages six to sixteen attend school. In order for students to continue onto higher education they must complete and pass an exam. Students in Italy tend to make their decision about what school to attend at a young age. Like many other schools, Italy offers their students the option of what profession they want to pursue from the list which breaks down to, school for teachers, technical school, professional school, art school, etc. One major difference that many people might not be aware about is, after a student has chosen their profession, there is a very slim chance that they will be able to change their mind. After students come to the conclusion of higher secondary school, another evaluation is given to them in order to receive their diploma, and begin their journey of becoming an adult. Students also have the option of moving onto the university level and continuing on with their education. Italy has a grand total of forty two state universities, six private universities, and three technical universities. Italy’s education system at the University level offer four main courses which are, university diploma, Bachelor of Arts/Science, research doctorate, and diploma of specialization. After looking over all of the research done dealing with Italy’s education system, I have learned numerous things and was able to compare and contrast the differences between the U.S and Italy. If we were to take a closer look into Italy’s education status we would see that Italy has made some drastic changes that have affected the population of students. Based on the data presented by the European Union education and training systems, from 2000 to 2009, there has been an increase of students attending pre-primary education. (Eurostat). They have all so came up with the conclusion that on average, students are expected to stay in education for seventeen years. Areas mainly in Eastern Europe have decreased in number of students involved in compulsory education during the last decade. If we were to take a look at the following statistic, we can come up with a couple of conclusions. The image above shows the statistics of expected years of education. Based on the image, we can conclude that students in Italy from 2005 to 2009 have been in school on average for 17 years. If we were to look at other countries, a majority of them are expected to stay in school for a year or two later than those in Italy. I would assume that the reason for this is because most students choose to pursue their occupation after higher secondary education rather than moving onto university level. We can see how different education is in different countries, because if this were the case in the United States, many students would not have the same opportunities compared to the students who decided to further their education. The following image is a great representation of what the Italian Education looks like and how it works. The first cycle of education usually consists of an eight year period involving primary school, which is five years followed by three years of secondary school. As stated early, in order to continue their education, students must pass a state exam in order to move on. Once students complete the exam, they are offered the choice of continuing on to upper secondary school, to enroll in vocational training, or enroll in vocational training which alternates between work experience and the classroom (European 2013). The education system in Italy ended up being a lot different then expected. It seems almost as if the system itself is weak, and is not enforcing the importance of pursuing on with an education. References:
What are the social benefits of education? (n.d.). Retrieved November 18, 2014. European portal for youngsters in vocational education training (MavoieProEurope). (2013, January 1). Retrieved November 18, 2014. |