Italy revives policy of failing badly behaved pupils to ‘bring back respect’

‘Grades for conduct’, similar to a law introduced by Mussolini, aims to tackle rising aggression towards teachers

Italy has reinstated a measure to fail badly behaved pupils as concerns grow over aggression directed at teachers.

The “grades for conduct” policy, similar to a measure first introduced by Benito Mussolini’s fascist government in 1924, is part of an education bill containing several laws that was approved in parliament on Wednesday, and gives schools the power to fail students based purely on their behaviour.