By Beatrice Manicone
The Italian Council of Minister following a proposition of Giorgia Meloni (the Prime Minister) and the Minister of Education and Merit Giuseppe Valditara, has discussed on January 14 , 2025 a new proposed legislation that will introduce new changes to the educational system in Italy (Redazione, 2025b). This was developed by a commission in charge of drafting the new text of the National Directions for the Curriculum for Preschool and First Cycle Education and headed by Loredana Perla, a professor at the “Aldo Moro” University of Bari (Bruno, 2025).
This reform is part of the fourth mission of the National Recovery Plan (PNRR) which is aimed at strengthening education and provide the tools to adapt to the challenges of the modern society (Redazione, 2025b). The text of the reform was published in mid-March 2025, will undergo a public consultation and will be implemented starting from the school year 2026/2027, 15 years after the last school reform (Bruno, 2025). The consultation phase, which will start at the end of March, involves multiple meetings between the commission who drafted the document and professionals’ associations, as well as parents’ student’s associations, and school unions (Bruno, 2025).
Currently, the Italian school system is split into five phases: kindergarten (scuola dell’infanzia), primary school (scuola primaria), lower secondary school (scuola secondaria di primo grado), upper secondary school (scuola secondaria di secondo grado), and university (università). This proposed legislation is tackling principally the students from primary to upper secondary school.
What are the Proposed Changes?
The goal of Valditara is to propose a reform that combines tradition and innovation, by highlighting the field of humanities and introducing competences from the early years of school (Redazione, 2025b).
One of the changes concerns the teaching of Latin. Currently, the subject is only offered in certain types of upper secondary schools, namely lyceums, which focus more on academics and theoretical knowledge. With the new reform, Latin will be optional from the second year of lower secondary schools (Lunghi, 2025). In fact, according to Italian Minister of Education and Merits, Latin is fundamental “to communicate and strengthen the awareness of the historical relation that ties Italian as a language to Latin and to underline how Latin constructs a common heritage between European culture” (Ferrandi, 2025).
Secondly, there will be a change in the approach to the teaching of history at all levels. There will be a bigger focus on Western, European, and Italian societies, and consequently their history; furthermore, the mandatory subject geo-storia in upper secondary schools (the combination of geography and history) will be replaced by two distinct subjects, geography and history. Geography will have a focus on the Italian territory and environment, while history will be taught from a Euro-centric point of view and should not be tied to any ideology (Lunghi, 2025). Valditara explains that this focus on the Western history “is fundamental to understand who we are, where we come from, and where we want to go” (Ferrandi, 2025)
A third change that was in the centre of public debate since the publication of the legislation text is the study of the Bible as a mandatory part of the school curriculum (Lunghi, 2025). Since the Lateran Treaty and the concordat of 1929, religion is part of the subjects that are taught in the Italian school system; however, it is an optional subject. With this new reform, a text that is inherently tied to the Christian religion, will be an integral part of the educational programme. To explain this choice, Valditari says that “the Bible, just like the Odyssey and the Iliad, is a great cultural testimony” and “it is at the base of most of our arts, literature, and music” (Ferrandi, 2025).
Other small changes that are proposed in the legislation text are: the introduction of the study of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and statistics in the mathematics curriculum, a more intercultural approach to languages (Redazione, 2025b), the return to the study of calligraphy and cursive, and to rote memorisation (Ferrandi, 2025).
What Does the Public Has to Say on the Proposed Legislation?
For some people, the reform proposed by Valditari is something that was long awaited, especially for the reintroduction of Latin as a subject from earlier on. For example, the Senator Ella Bucalo from the right-wing political party Fratelli d’Italia explains that the Italian school will finally return to “its primary role of cultural and social teaching” (Redazione, 2025a).
Others partially agree, like the classicist Luciano Canfora, who supports the teaching of Latin starting from lower secondary school and the separation of history and geography in upper secondary school. However, he believes that teaching history without an ideology is an improper expression, as historical research is one thing, and political ideology is something completely different (Usan, 2025).
Finally, for many others it is just a return to the past waiting for approval, and it is a reform that is largely based on the idolization of the Western culture and history. In a political climate like the current one in Italy, these changes can only lead to an increase in the idea that the Western culture is superior, and that the others will be, at best, considered like ‘exotic’, or at worst, ‘dangerous’ (Paolella, 2025). Furthermore, introducing the study of the Bible as an integral part of the curriculum is a clear political choice dictated by an ideology and justified by saying that it is at the roots of Italian culture (Redazione, 2025a).
Conclusion
Even if this reform still must be publicly discussed and might undergo some changes before being implemented, it is undeniably a politically motivated return to the past. The introduction of Latin as an option for lower secondary school, the Bible into the national programs, and the focus on Western history in upper secondary school are symptoms of a line of governance that idolises the past.
References
Bruno, E. (2025, March 11). Latino dalla seconda media e bibbia alla primaria: Ecco i programmi di valditara. Il Sole 24 ORE. https://www.ilsole24ore.com/art/latino-seconda-media-e-bibbia-primaria-ecco-programmi-valditara-AGUc1pSD?refresh_ce=1
Cimino, L. (2025, March 11). Scuola, ecco il manuale dello studente sovranista. Il Manifesto. https://ilmanifesto.it/scuola-ecco-il-manuale-dello-studente-sovranista
Ferrandi, C. (2025, March 12). Valditara spiega le indicazioni nazionali 2025 per la scuola. Virgilio.it; Virgilio Sapere. https://sapere.virgilio.it/scuola/mondo-scuola/valditara-spiega-le-indicazioni-nazionali-2025-per-la-scuola
Lunghi, M. (2025, January 16). Riforma scuola: Latino alle medie e abolizione della geostoria alle superiori. ecco tutte le novità. Studenti.it; Studenti.it. https://www.studenti.it/riforma-scuola-ecco-tutte-le-novita.html
Marie, V. (2024). The education system in Italy. Expatica Italy. Accessed March 15, 2025
Ministero dell’Educazione e del Merito. (2025). Nuove indicazioni 2025 scuola dell’infanzia e primo ciclo di istruzione materiali per il dibattito pubblico. https://www.mim.gov.it/documents/20182/0/Nuove+indicazioni+2025.pdf/cebce5de-1e1d-12de-8252-79758c00a50b?version=1.0&t=1741684578272
Paolella, S. (2025, March 12). Solo l’Occidente conosce la storia. Scomodo.
Redazione. (2025a, January 15). Nuove indicazioni nazionali di valditara, le reazioni: C’è chi lo loda per il coraggio, per altri riporta la scuola agli anni cinquanta. Tecnica Della Scuola. https://www.tecnicadellascuola.it/nuove-indicazioni-nazionali-valditara
Redazione. (2025b, January 15). Valditara e il latino alle medie, la scuola italiana sta per cambiare. Demografica. https://demografica.adnkronos.com/popolazione/valditara-scuola-riforma-2025-novita/
Usan, T. (2025, January 15). Canfora sulla riforma della scuola: “Giusto studiare il latino. Ma la storia ideologica non esiste.” La Stampa. https://www.lastampa.it/cronaca/2025/01/15/news/luciano_canfora_riforma_scuola-14940213/
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