Overview
- Students, teachers and school staff rallied across Italy to oppose Minister Giuseppe Valditara’s 4+2 plan that links four years of technical high school to two years in higher technical institutes known as ITS.
- The education ministry reported 1.78% participation across schools and 6.1% in technical institutes and called the strike a failure, while unions described high turnout in several schools and cities.
- The decree advances work-based training to the second year, cuts hours in subjects like Italian, geography and math, and folds physics, chemistry, biology and earth science into a single course called Experimental Sciences without clear guidance on who teaches it or how it is graded.
- Critics say the changes shrink humanities teaching, push teenagers into early specialization, risk more unpaid placements, and could add costs for families who pursue fee-based ITS programs, especially in regions with fewer local industry partners.
- After talks with unions that did not strike, the ministry plans to start the reform in 2026 with adjustments the following year and cites ITS enrollment growth from about 11,000 in 2020 to more than 40,000 as evidence of demand.