The birth of compulsory middle school in the ethical-civil ideals and social policies of education of Aldo Moro and Luigi Gui

Abstract

Compulsory middle schooling came into being on Dec. 31, 1962, as one of the last significant acts of the third legislature and bore the signature of a Christian Democratic deputy, Luigi Gui, minister of Education in the fourth Fanfani government. The important measure was then led to implementation during the fourth legislature, when Gui was reappointed to the Education ministry by Aldo Moro, who led the three center-left governments that followed between 1963 and 1968. The article focuses on Aldo Moro’s and Luigi Gui’s contribution to the passage of the law, enhancing the educational and ethical-civil premises underlying their school policies, best defined as “social policies of education”. These perspectives of political action have their ideal roots especially in the period between the Resistance and Reconstruction, passing through the phase of the Constituent Assembly, when the biographies of both Christian Democrat politicians – who were almost the same age – crossed paths. Compulsory middle schooling came into being on Dec. 31, 1962, as one of the last significant acts of the third legislature and bore the signature of a Christian Democratic deputy, Luigi Gui, minister of Education in the fourth Fanfani government. The important measure was then led to implementation during the fourth legislature, when Gui was reappointed to the Education ministry by Aldo Moro, who led the three center-left governments that followed between 1963 and 1968. The article focuses on Aldo Moro's and Luigi Gui's contribution to the passage of the law, enhancing the educational and ethical-civil premises underlying their school policies, best defined as “social policies of education”. These perspectives of political action have their ideal roots especially in the period between the Resistance and Reconstruction, passing through the phase of the Constituent Assembly, when the biographies of both Christian Democrat politicians – who were almost the same age – crossed paths.