ROME – A recent survey has revealed a dramatic difference between the reading results of Italian children in the South and those in the North largely due to “socio-economic factors”, and has indicated that the average reading results across the country are on a gradual decline.  

 The Iea Pirls survey on the reading results of 10 year old students, is conducted in over fifty countries around the world, every five years for two decades. This year in Italy, 7,419 children, 5,152 parents and 442 teachers were involved, through a digital test.

 The positive news is that in Italy, 10 year-old students score an average of 537 points, which is higher than the international average of all participating countries and above the average of European countries.

 But reading between the lines of the report, one discovers that in 2021 Italian children obtained an average result that was significantly lower by eleven points than the one recorded five years earlier, bringing the numbers back in line with those of twenty and ten years ago, showing an overall decline.

 The results also show the differences in reading results based on geographical area. It emerges that the gap between the North West, which achieves the best result, and the South of Italy has now tripled: 36 points in 2021 compared to 12 points in 2006.

 "A high socioeconomic and cultural index,” the survey states, “is associated with better student performance in reading both in Italy and in individual geographical areas; students whose parents have involved their children more often in pre-school activities perform better than students whose parents have involved them a few times.”

 “Students who attend schools where there is a majority of peers from affluent families have higher reading scores on average than those who go to institutions where there is a majority of pupils who have economically disadvantaged parents,” the report also states.

 eb