Il PCI e la riforma della scuola media unica (parte seconda)

In May 1947, as a result of international pressure and tension with the Christian Democrats, the Italian Communist Party (PCI) left the coalition government charged with transforming Italy into a democratic republic after the downfall of fascism. In the years of the Cold War and the affirmation of centrism, the reform of the school were not considered on the agenda in the Communist Party, which was committed to close ranks and to respond to attacks by moderates.
Thanks to the influence of Gramsci’s work, especially during the 1950s and ’60s, the leaders of the PCI developed a new vision for the Italian school. The aim of education would now be focused upon the improvement of literacy among Italians, in a comprehensive, rather than selective, school (’scuola media unica’).
This article highlights contradictions and tensions both between the PCI and government forces and within left movements themselves. The ’struggle’ lasted more than fifteen years and, by the end of 1962, a new middle school was established by law.