The age limit is six to nine years for the lower grade, and up
to twelve for the higher grade, attendance being obligatory at
the latter also where it exists. 2. Secondary instruction (i.)
classical in the ginnasi and licei, the latter leading to the
universities; (ii.) technical. 3. Higher education—universities,
higher institutes and special schools.
Of the secondary and higher educatory methods, in the normal schools and licei the state provides for the payment of the staff and for scientific material, and often largely supports the ginnasi and technical schools, which should by law be supported by the communes. The universities are maintained by the state and by their own ancient resources; while the higher special schools are maintained conjointly by the state, the province, the commune and (sometimes) the local chamber of commerce.
The number of persons unable to read and write has gradually decreased, both absolutely and in proportion to the number of inhabitants. The census of 1871 gave 73% of illiterates, that of 1881, 67%, and that of 1901, 56%, i.e. 51.8 for males and 60.8 for females. In Piedmont there were 17.7% of illiterates above six years (the lowest) and in Calabria 78.7% (the highest), the figures for the whole country being 48.5. As might be expected, progress has been most rapid wherever education, at the moment of national unification, was most widely diffused. For instance, the number of bridegrooms unable to write their names in 1872 was in the province of Turin 26%, and in the Calabrian province of Cosenza 90%; in 1899 the percentage in the province of Turin had fallen to 5%, while in that of Cosenza it was still 76%. Infant asylums (where the first rudiments of instruction are imparted to children between two and a half and six years of age) and elementary schools have increased in number. There has been a corresponding increase in the number of scholars. Thus:—
| Year. | Infant Asylums (Public and Private). | Daily Elementary Schools (Public and Private). | ||
| Number of Asylums | Number of Scholars. | Number of Schoolrooms. | Number of Scholars. | |
| 1885–86 | 2083 | 240,365 | 53,628 | 2,252,898 |
| 1890–91 | 2296 | 278,204 | 57,077 | 2,418,692 |
| 1901–02 | 3314 | 355,594 | 61,777 | 2,733,349 |
The teachers in 1901–1902 numbered 65,739 (exclusive of 576 non-teaching directors and 322 teachers of special subjects) or about 41.5 scholars per teacher.
The rate of increase in the public state-supported schools has been much greater than in the private schools. School buildings have been improved and the qualifications of teachers raised. Nevertheless, many schools are still defective, both from a hygienic and a teaching point of view; while the economic position of the elementary teachers, who in Italy depend upon the communal administrations and not upon the state, is still in many parts of the country extremely low.
The law of 1877 rendering education compulsory for children between six and nine years of age has been the principal cause of the spread of elementary education. The law is, however, imperfectly enforced for financial reasons. In 1901–1902 only 65% out of the whole number of children between six and nine years of age were registered in the lower standards of the elementary and private schools. The evening schools have to some extent helped to spread education. Their number and that of their scholars have, however, decreased since the withdrawal of state subsidies. In 1871–1872 there were 375,947 scholars at the evening schools and 154,585 at the holiday schools, while in 1900–1901 these numbers had fallen to 94,510 and 35,460 respectively. These are, however, the only institutions in which a decrease is shown, and by the law of 1906 5000 of these institutions are to be provided in the communes where the proportion of illiterates is highest. In 1895 they numbered 4245, with 138,181 scholars. Regimental schools impart elementary education to illiterate soldiers. Whereas the levy of 1894 showed 40% of the recruits to be completely illiterate, only 27% were illiterate when the levy was discharged in 1897. Private institutions and working-class associations have striven to improve the intellectual conditions of the working classes. Popular universities have lately attained considerable development. The number of institutes devoted to secondary education remained almost unchanged between 1880–1881 and 1895–1896. In some places the number has even been diminished by the suppression of private educational institutes. But the number of scholars has considerably increased, and shows a ratio superior to the general increase of the population. The greatest increase has taken place in technical education, where it has been much more rapid than in classical education. There are three higher commercial schools, with academic rank, at Venice, Genoa and Bari, and eleven secondary commercial schools; and technical and commercial schools for women at Florence and Milan. The number of agricultural schools has also grown, although the total is relatively small when compared with population. The attendance at the various classes of secondary schools in 1882 and 1902 is shown by the following table:—
| 1882. | 1902. | No. of Schools. | |
| Ginnasi— | |||
| Government | 13,875 | 24,081 | 192 |
| On an equal footing with government schools | 6,417 | 7,208 | 76 |
| Not on such a footing | 22,609 | 24,850* | 442 |
| Total | 42,811 | 56,139 | 710 |
| Technical schools— | |||
| Government | 7,510 | 30,411 | 188 |
| On an equal footing | 8,653 | 12,055 | 101 |
| Not on such a footing | 8,670 | 3,623* | 106* |
| Total | 24,833 | 46,089 | 395 |
| Licei— | |||
| Government | 6,623 | 10,983 | 121 |
| On an equal footing | 1,167 | 1,955 | 33 |
| Not on such a footing | 4,600 | 4,962* | 187 |
| Total | 12,390 | 17,900 | 341 |
| Technical institutes— | |||
| Government | 5,555 | 9,654 | 54 |
| On an equal footing | 1,684 | 1,898 | 18 |
| Not on such a footing | 619 | 378* | 7 |
| Total | 7,858 | 11,930 | 79 |
| Nautical institutes— | |||
| Government | 758 | 1,878 | 18 |
| On an equal footing | 69 | 38 | 1 |
| Not on such a footing | 13 | 29* | 1 |
| Total | 816 | 1,945 | 20 |
* 1896.
The schools which do not obtain equality with government schools are either some of those conducted by religious orders, or else those in which a sufficient standard is not reached. The total number of such schools was, in 1896, 742 with 33,813 pupils.
The pupils of the secondary schools reach a maximum of 6.60 per 1000 in Liguria and 5.92 in Latium, and a minimum of 2.30 in the Abruzzi, 2.27 in Calabria and 1.65 in Basilicata.
For the boarding schools, or convitti, there are only incomplete reports except for the institutions directly dependent on the ministry of public instruction, which are comparatively few. The rest are largely directed by religious institutions. In 1895–1896 there were 919 convitti for boys, with 59,066 pupils, of which 40, with 3814 pupils, were dependent on the ministry (in 1901–1902 there were 43 of these with 4036 pupils); and 1456 for girls, with 49,367 pupils, of which only 8, with about 600 pupils, were dependent on the ministry.
The scuole normali or training schools (117 in number, of which 75 were government institutions) for teachers had 1329 male students in 1901–1902, showing hardly any increase, while the female students increased from 8005 in 1882–1883 to 22,316 in 1895–1896, but decreased to 19,044 in 1901–1902, owing to the admission of women to telegraph and telephone work. The female secondary schools in 1881–1882 numbered 77, of which 7 were government institutions, with 3569 pupils; in 1901–1902 there were 233 schools (9 governmental) with 9347 pupils.
The total attendance of students in the various faculties at the different universities and higher institutes is as follows:—
| 1882. | 1902. | |
| Law | 4,801 | 8,385 |
| Philosophy and letters | 419 | 1,703 |
| Medicine and surgery | 4,428 | 9,055 |
| Professional diploma, pharmacy | 798 | 3,290 |
| Mathematics and natural science | 1,364 | 3,500 |
| Engineering | 982 | 1,293 |
| Agriculture | 145 | 507 |
| Commerce | 128 | 167 |
| Total | 13,065 | 27,900 |
