Abstract
Nowadays, the Italian school system faces many challenges. But one of its huge problems is early school leaving. In fact, a large number of Italian students fail and have to repeat the year; in response, many of them decide to leave school without first obtaining a high school degree. This phenomenon is extremely widespread because the Italian public-school system lacks the following three aspects which are usually stronger in other European countries: individualized attention to every single student, well-structured summer courses for the “remedial” of negative school results, and an educational policy supporting school performance. Most Italian students, however, overcome the inefficiencies of the Italian school system and succeed in graduating thanks to private tutoring. The aforementioned problems regarding students’ performances support in higher education system will be analyzed in connection with school dropouts and will be explained by how the private tutoring can provide systematic solutions to these shortcomings. The goal of this paper consists of outlining the situation of Italian high school system taking into account the educational policies and their implications, through a documentary analysis. In particular, the results will explain why families are forced to resort to private tutoring as a last chance and will also suggest implications for the management and improvement of scholastic recovery activities.