ITALY - More than a decade of austerity for schools… …and a waning appetite for higher education among students.

Based on entry rates observed during the years in question, the proportion of young people who could be expected to enter a university-level programme during their lifetime increased from 39% in 2000 to 50% in 2002 and 56% in 2006, before dropping back to 48% in 2011 (OECD average: 60%). [...] In 2011, 47.6% of teachers in primary education, 61.0% of teachers in lower secondary education, and 62.5% of teachers in upper secondary education were over age 50; and relatively few younger adults ITALY – Country Note – Education at a Glance 2013: OECD Indicators have entered the profession in recent years. [...] Student-teacher ratios are relatively smaller in Italy’s primary and secondary schools than in other OECD countries, although at the secondary level, the ratio of students to teaching staff is now in line with the EU21 average. [...] While the proportion of 55-64 year-olds with university-level education is almost equal for women and men, one in four 25-34 year-old women (26%) has attained this level of education compared to only one in six men (16%) of the same age. [...] In 2011, the purchasing power of a starting salary for teachers in Italy was USD 29 418 in upper secondary education (OECD average: USD31 348).