Why does only 16% of the population between the age of 18 and 65 reach high levels of participation in cultural life?

During the course of the Culture of Innovation and participation Meeting, Tullio De Mauro advanced a historical analysis of this phenomenon.

At the end of the Second World War, 60 out 100 Italians were illiterate: 30 had elementary schooling and only ten went on to complete further education. In half a century, Italian schools have done their job. Now, those numbers are 11, 25 and 64.

“It took the children of an illiterate population, brought them to school and gave them elementary schooling, middle schooling and then it took them through to a diploma. Then, they were all poured into a completely unprepared university.

However, while schools have done what they were supposed to do, outside of schooling, absolutely nothing happened. The agencies responsible for promoting and maintaining intellectual culture are still mired in the fifties. Take, for example, the newspaper information and circulation system: in the fifties, a paper was sold every 10 citizens; today, we are still trapped at that same proportion.

We used to have 2000 good libraries, while we now have 2000 libraries for 8000 towns. This means that 6000 towns do not even know what a library is. This is why I say that no answer has been provided outside of schooling.”

Listen to Prof. De Mauro's presentation: