u/Socmel_

I've read that Italy and France are the only countries that teach it as part of the standard school curriculum for all school types as subject equal to literature or PE, so curious if it's true and if there are major differences.

In my school it was taught by the same teacher that taught art education, so learning how to draw the projection of a solid geometric form, or other drawing tecniques that come handy if you further study architecture, industrial design, etc.

We obviously started from pre historic cave art, up to the mid XX century, and started from age 10 with field trips to nearby museums or historical sites 1/2 a year, expanding to national sites from age 12/13 and then European cities at age 16 to 18.

It's an integral part of the school curriculum which is counted for the total score of your school leaving certificate at age 18.