School reform, file by file

Evaluation

Conduct and evaluation

L. 1 Oct 2024, n. 150 · in force 31 Oct 2024

Conduct is assessed over the whole year and acts of violence weigh heavily. Lower secondary school returns to a conduct mark in tenths; in both secondary cycles a conduct mark below six means non-admission to the next year or to the final exam. In upper secondary, a six in conduct triggers an elaborato di cittadinanza — a citizenship assignment — before the September assessment. Primary school returns to synthetic judgements, from ottimo to gravemente insufficiente.^[1]

Implementing regulations amending the school statutes received final Council of Ministers approval around late July 2025 and apply from 2025/26; suspensions are converted into school-based citizenship activities.^[2] Article 3 adds a payment of €500–10,000 to the victim's school on conviction for crimes against school staff.^[1]

Curriculum

New Indicazioni nazionali — pre-primary and first cycle

DM n. 221/2025 · GU n. 21, 27 Jan 2026

The national curricular guidelines for pre-primary, primary and lower secondary school, drafted by a commission set up in March 2024 and published in draft in March 2025, replace the 2012 guidelines. The emphasis falls on Italian and Western history, grammar, memorisation and handwriting.^[4]

Application: all pre-primary sections from 2026/27; primary and lower secondary phased in from first classes in 2026/27. Optional Latin ("LEL") in the second year of lower secondary, one extra hour a week, set by DL 170/2026 to start in 2027/28.^[4][11]

Curriculum

Indicazioni nazionali for the licei

Draft · CSPI opinion 14 Jul 2026

A draft by a commission chaired by Loredana Perla received the opinion of the National Council for Education (CSPI) on 14 July 2026, by 22 votes to 12. Application is expected from 2027/28. In June 2026 the ministry said the new liceo programmes emphasise the "centrality of the West".^[5]

The text has not been adopted: it should be read as a proposal until a final regulation is published.

Curriculum

Civic education guidelines

DM 7 Sep 2024, n. 183 · from 2024/25

New guidelines replace those of 2020 (DM 35/2020) and organise civic education into three strands — the Constitution; economic development and sustainability; digital citizenship — with 12 competences and at least 33 cross-curricular hours a year.^[6]

The CSPI gave an unfavourable opinion on the draft; the guidelines were adopted nonetheless.^[6]

Examinations

Maturità reform

DL 9 Sep 2025, n. 127 · L. 30 Oct 2025, n. 164

The final upper-secondary examination returns to the name esame di maturità and acquires an orientation value. Refusing the oral (scena muta) means failing. The oral covers four subjects announced each January; commissions have five members (two internal, two external and an external president); bonus points are available from 90 rather than 97. PCTO work-based learning is renamed formazione scuola-lavoro, and the "4+2" model becomes permanent.^[7][8]

First applied to the Maturità 2026 (OM n. 54 of 26 March 2026).^[7]

Guidance

Orientation guidelines, tutor and guidance teachers

DM 22 Dec 2022, n. 328 · DM 63/2023

A PNRR-linked reform introducing at least 30 hours a year of orientation modules, a personal E-Portfolio in which students choose a "capolavoro" (their best piece of work), and two new teacher roles: the docente tutor and the docente orientatore.^[9]

DM 63 of 5 April 2023 funded the roles with €150 million for 2023 and 20 hours of training; ministerial guidance set 30–50 students per tutor. In implementation since 2023/24.^[9]

Technical & vocational

Reform of technical institutes

DM 19 Feb 2026, n. 29 · MIM note n. 1397/2026

Based on articles 26 and 26-bis of DL 144/2022 (PNRR Mission 4, reform 1.1), new curricula and timetables apply from first classes in 2026/27 and are phased in over five years.^[10]

Unions and the regional council of Piedmont asked for a postponement.^[10] See Vocational & Technical.

Technical & vocational

Technical-professional pathway "4+2"

L. 8 Aug 2024, n. 121

Four-year experimental courses in technical and vocational institutes linked to two years at an ITS Academy or in regional training. From 180 schools in 2024/25 to 396 in 2025/26; made ordinary from 2026/27 by DL 127/2025.^[18][7]

Technical & vocational

"Licei tecnologici" and "licei professionali"

DL 30 Sep 2026, n. 170, art. 9

Technical institutes are renamed licei tecnologici and vocational institutes licei professionali. The decree-law is in force from 1 October 2026 but must be converted by Parliament; conversion is expected by the end of November 2026.^[11]

Class composition

30% cap on non-Italian-speaking pupils

DL 30 Sep 2026, n. 170

From 2027/28, pupils who do not speak Italian may make up at most 30% of first-year classes in primary, lower and upper secondary school. The criterion is language, not citizenship; pupils born in Italy, or with two years of Italian pre-school (for primary) or three successful years in Italian schools (for secondary) are exempt. Schools can redistribute pupils to nearby schools or add an Italian-language teacher. The same decree bans face coverings at school.^[11][12]

A 30% limit was already present as a concept in a 2010 ministerial circular.^[12]

School life

Smartphones in school

Circ. Dec 2022 · Note 5274/2024 · Circ. 3392/2025

A December 2022 circular kept phones out of lessons except for teaching use. Note 5274 of 11 July 2024 banned them during school hours, including for teaching, in primary and lower secondary from 2024/25. Circular 3392 of 16 June 2025 extended the ban to upper secondary — state and paritarie — from 2025/26, with exceptions under individual plans (PEI/PDP); schools update their rules and the patto di corresponsabilità.^[13]

Network

Dimensionamento — reorganisation of the school network

L. 29 Dec 2022, n. 197, art. 1 c. 557

Regional quotas of head teachers and administrative directors are set on a ratio of 900–1,000 pupils per institution: 961 for 2024/25, 949 for 2025/26 and 938 for 2026/27 (DM 124 of 30 June 2025). The measure is linked to the PNRR.^[14]

Several regions dispute it; on 12 January 2026 the Council of Ministers appointed commissioners for Emilia-Romagna, Tuscany, Umbria and Sardinia.^[14]

Curriculum

Liceo del Made in Italy

L. 27 Dec 2023, n. 206, art. 18

A new liceo track in economics, law and the management of Made in Italy, with first classes in 2024/25 in schools offering the economic-social option of the liceo delle scienze umane.^[19]

Investment

Agenda Sud and Agenda Nord

DM 176/2023 · DM 102/2024

Targeted funding for basic skills and longer school time; total above €1 billion after the September 2025 top-up. Analysed on the Education & Merit page.^[22]

Investment

STEM, languages and staff training (PNRR)

DM 12 Apr 2023, nn. 65 and 66

DM 65: €750 million — €600 million for students' STEM, digital and language skills and €150 million for teachers' language courses, with 40% reserved for the South. DM 66: €450 million for staff training in the digital transition.^[16]

Investment

PNRR against early school leaving

DM 2 Feb 2024, n. 19

€790 million under PNRR investment line 1.4: €750 million for state secondary schools and €40 million for adult-education centres (CPIA).^[23] The ministry reports that all PNRR education targets were met by 31 August 2026.^[17]

Digital

Artificial intelligence trial

Announced 8 Sep 2024 · Cernobbio

A two-year trial in 15 classes in Lombardy, Lazio, Tuscany and Calabria, using an AI assistant for STEM subjects and foreign languages, evaluated by INVALSI. National AI guidelines followed in August 2025 — see Digital & Future Education.^[20]

Investment

Piano Scuola 4.0

DM 14 Jun 2022, n. 161 · DM 218/2022

Adopted before Valditara took office: €2.1 billion, including €1.296 billion for "Next Generation Classrooms" and €424.8 million for "Next Generation Labs". Its implementation continued under the current ministry, but its design belongs to the previous government.^[15]