Education in Italy is {compulsory|imperative} {from|coming from} 6 to 16 years of age, and is divided into five stages: {kindergarten|preschool} (scuola dell'infanzia), {primary|most important} school (scuola primaria or scuola elementare).
Lower secondary school (scuola secondaria di primo grado or scuola media), upper secondary school (scuola secondaria di secondo grado or scuola superiore) and {university|college or university} (università).
Italy has both public and private education {systems|programs}. HISTORY In Italy a state school system or Education System has existed since 1859.
When the Legge Casati (Casati Act) mandated educational responsibilities for the {forthcoming|forthcoming future} Italian state (Italian unification took place in 1861).
The Casati {Act|Respond} made primary education compulsory, and had the goal of reducing illiteracy.
This law gave control of primary {education|knowledge} to the single towns, of secondary {education|schooling} to the provinces, and the universities were managed by the State.
Even with the Casati Act and compulsory education, in rural (and southern) areas children often were not sent to school (the rate of children enrolled in primary {education|education and learning}.
Would reach 90% only after 70 years) {and the|along with the} illiteracy rate (which was nearly 80% in 1861) took more than 50 years to halve.