Education and Training Monitor 2024

1. Learning for sustainability

In Italy, learning for sustainability was formally integrated in school curricula along with the re-introduction of civic education in all Italian schools¹(ISCED 0-3) in 2020/2021. Most schools have chosen to teach civic education in line with the three main topics defined by ministry regulations: the Italian constitution, sustainable development and digital citizenship. The approach is cross-curricular, integrating the teaching of citizenship education across different subjects. National guidelines for the teaching of civic education were introduced in 2024. They define learning objectives and expected outcomes, to be pursued progressively starting from primary school and to be achieved by the end of the second cycle of education.

The Ministry of Education and Merit (MIM) updated its skills certification models to include sustainability competences. The new skill certification models adopted in early 2024²include, for the first time, competences related to the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Students in grade 8 or at the end of compulsory education, and learners enrolled in adult education centres (CPIA – Centri provinciali istruzione adulti) will need to have developed skills including ‘behaviours and attitudes respectful of the environment, common goods, environmental, economic, social sustainability, in line with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development’³.

Italian schools implement learning for sustainability in partnership with stakeholders and civil society. Over the years, the MIM has concluded several memoranda of understanding with other ministries, national and international institutions, and environmental associations on the topics of environmental education, sustainability, cultural heritage, and global citizenship. Perhaps the most far-reaching is the agreement with the Italian Alliance for sustainable development (ASviS)⁴, first concluded in 2016 and renewed regularly since. Cooperation between the MIM and ASviS touches on many areas, from sharing information and good practices to developing curricula and teacher training (see Box 1).

Several measures are being implemented with national and EU funds to foster green skills in vocational education and training (VET). As regards initial VET, several ESF+ regional programmes fund secondary and post-secondary level VET offering vocational educational programmes to develop green skills. In 2022, there were 98 ITS Academies offering post-secondary level innovative VET programmes in several technological areas, including sustainable mobility and energy efficiency.

The network of universities for sustainable development (RUS - Rete delle università per lo sviluppo sostenibile) involves 86 Italian universities. It was set up in 2016 with the objective of sharing best practices in sustainability education and management. Higher education institutions have also received substantial funding from the EU Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) to support new research priorities, including sustainability. RRF funding has been allocated to three innovation ecosystem projects (ecosistemi dell’innovazione) in the field of climate, energy and sustainable mobility’. As these projects are still ongoing, it is not yet possible to identify any spill-over effects in terms of knowledge transfer.

The national agency for the evaluation of universities (ANVUR) is exploring the option of testing students on their competences in civic education, including sustainability. A working group was set up and tasked with drawing up a reference framework for assessing civic competences. However, progress to date has been slow, given the voluntary nature of university participation.

2. Early childhood education and care

Participation in early childhood education (ECE) increased in 2022 but is not yet back to pre-pandemic levels. In 2022, 93.3% of children between the age of three and the starting age of compulsory primary education were enrolled in ECE, in line with the EU average of 93%⁵. This has increased by 1.7 percentage points (pps) since 2021 (91.6%), but it remains below pre-pandemic levels⁶.

The proportion of children below the age of three in formal childcare is growing steadily. In 2023, the proportion of children aged 0 to 2 enrolled in formal childcare reached 34.5%, up 3.6 pps compared to 2022 (30.9%)⁷. The rate is still below both the EU average of 37.5% and the new Barcelona target of 41.7% by 2030 but shows a clear upwards trend over the past years⁸. This can be ascribed to a combination of government policies in support of families and to the demographic decline narrowing the gap between the demand and supply of childcare places. However, while overall the uptake of childcare is improving, national data show that it remains highly unequal across the country. There are wide differences between the north and the south⁹and between urban and ‘internal’ areas¹⁰, where a low and fragmented demand has traditionally hindered the development of childcare services.

The government is stepping up efforts to tackle imbalances in participation and service provision. In 2024, the MIM relaunched the implementation of its NRRP initiative to expand the supply of ECEC, albeit on a reduced scale¹¹, after the initial approach based on an open call for tenders by municipalities failed to produce the desired results¹². The MIM has therefore opted for a top-down approach based on the direct identification of the municipalities with the greatest need to strengthen childcare provision¹³. The resulting list, consisting of 1 868 eligible municipalities ranked by resident population, number of children aged 0 to 2, and gap in the coverage rate compared to the 33% target will guide the allocation of the available funding¹⁴. The aim is to encourage municipalities with strong shortcomings in the provision of early childhood services to start building new public nurseries. However, not all have chosen to take part in the initiative.

3. School education

The rate of students leaving school early continues to fall and is edging closer to the EU average. The proportion of early leavers from education and training (ELET) in the 18-24 age group was 10.5% in 2023, down from 11.5% the previous year¹⁵. The past decade has seen a steady fall in the proportion of early school leavers, and a progressive narrowing of the gap with the EU average (Figure 1). While this trend is encouraging, the current rate remains above both the EU average of 9.5% and the EU-level target of less than 9% by 2030. Boys are more likely than girls to leave school early (13.6% vs 9.1%), with Italy having a wider gender gap than average (4.5 pps against the EU average of 3.1 pps). At over 25.5%, the rate of early school leaving among 18 to 24-year-olds not born in Italy is almost three times higher than the rate of those born in Italy (9.1%), and well above the EU average of 21.3%. Similarly, ‘hidden’ or ‘implicit’ early school leaving - the share of students who finish upper secondary education without achieving the corresponding learning objectives (thus facing the same limited employment and social prospects as early school leavers) has fallen to 6.6%¹⁶, the lowest level since 2019, when data collection began. If these positive trends continue, Italy appears on track to achieve the EU’s ELET target of less than 9% by 2030 (INVALSI, 2024).

Figure 1: Early leavers from education and training (18-24 year-olds), 2014 - 2023 (%)

The Italian education system produces mixed results in terms of basic skills proficiency. According to the results of the 2022 OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA 2022), the overall performance of Italian 15-year-olds has improved in reading, remained stable in science and worsened in mathematics. In mathematics, the drop observed between 2018 and 2022 (-15 score points) reversed most of the gains made in previous years, and brought average scores close to those observed in 2003 and 2006.While the underachievement¹⁷rate in reading and science is slightly below the EU average (although still short of the EU-level target set at 15% for 2030), in mathematics the share of low-performing students increased by 5.8 pps. between 2018 and 2022, (EU: 6.6 pps), and reached 29.6% in 2022 (EU: 29.5%). The largest drop in performance was recorded among students performing from the median upwards (INVALSI 2023), suggesting that the education system has been able to contain the impact of the pandemic on weaker students.

Basic skills proficiency levels vary significantly by geographical area and type of school. The north of the country has the lowest percentage of low-performing students in mathematics (18%) and the highest percentage of high-performing students (about 9% in the northeast and 12% in the northwest). By contrast, in the south, almost half of all students (46%) fail to achieve basic proficiency and less than 3% reach the top levels. Results in the centre of the country fall somewhere in between, with an underachievement rate of 28% and a top performance rate of 6%. In a system that puts students on different tracks at the end of lower secondary education after the eighth grade, performance also varies by type of school: students in upper general education (licei) obtain higher scores than students in technical and vocational institutes and are more likely to perform at the top levels (11%), although almost a fifth (19%) still do not reach basic proficiency. The most concerning finding is that in vocational schools, the share of top-performing students is virtually nil (0.1%) whereas the share of low-achieving students is above 60%, i.e. more than double the national average.

There are persistent gender disparities in mathematics performance. While girls do better in reading than boys by 19 score points, they are outperformed in maths by 21 points, the widest gap in the EU. Girls are more likely than boys to underachieve in mathematics (by 4.2 pps) and less likely to perform at the highest levels (by 5.5 pps). Overall, these issues point to deeper-rooted inequalities influenced by cultural dynamics and gender stereotypes (European Commission, 2020).

The link between socio-economic status and performance in mathematics is weaker than the EU average. On average, socio-economic status accounts for 13.5% of the variation in mathematics scores, compared to the EU average of 16.6%. The link is even weaker within types of schools: in general upper secondary schools, the socio-economic status of the family accounts for 8.4% of the variation in scores, in technical institutes for 5.6% and in vocational institutes for 5.9%.

Socio-economic status tends to be a better predictor of learning achievement than migrant background. Students with an immigrant background, whether or not born in Italy, tend to have a more disadvantaged socio-economic profile than students with no immigrant background: while 25% of all students are considered socio-economically disadvantaged, the corresponding share among students with an immigrant background is 52% (PISA, 2022). In mathematics, the average difference in performance between students with and without an immigrant background is 30 score points in favour of the latter. However, after accounting for students’ socio-economic status and the language spoken at home, the difference becomes insignificant.

Several measures are being implemented to boost learning outcomes and reduce regional disparities, with EU support. In 2023, the MIM launched the ‘Agenda Sud’ project, which aims to close the gaps in learning outcomes between northern and southern Italy through targeted measures in primary and secondary state schools in southern and island regions (Box 1). A new system of orientation and guidance was launched in secondary schools in September 2023, with the aim of reducing early school leaving and raising tertiary attainment. The system takes an individual approach, helping each student identify their strengths and weaknesses, skills and interests through a series of guidance modules. The results are recorded in a digital portfolio detailing each student’s educational background and the skills and competences acquired. In addition, the MIM has issued guidelines for strengthening mathematical, scientific, technological and digital skills through innovative teaching methodologies at all education levels, with the aim of raising achievement and encouraging students (particularly women) to enrol in tertiary STEM curricula.

4. Vocational education and training

Despite measures taken in recent years, more efforts are needed to increase the attractiveness of VET. The share of pupils in medium-level education¹⁸attending programmes with a vocational orientation (51.8% in 2022) has been steadily decreasing over the last decade (-7.8 pps from 2013).¹⁹Work-based learning in VET is limited, as only 25.9% of recent graduates had such experience, well below both the EU average of 64.5% in 2023 and the EEA target of at least 60% by 2025.²⁰Moreover, recent VET graduates in Italy have the lowest employment rate at EU level (62.2% in 2023, compared to 81% EU-wide).²¹In 2023, Italy has taken further measures to strengthen key competences in education and training, such as enhancing the design of transversal competence and guidance pathways (PCTOs) for secondary school pupils.

Italy is also taking action to strengthen the cooperation framework between VET schools and the labour market. In 2023, Italy created a new platform linking the MIM’s information systems to the national register of alternance school-to-work schemes of the Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Handicrafts and Agriculture, simplifying the process of matching labour supply and demand.

The ESF/ESF+ continues to support VET in Italy, both at secondary and non-academic post-secondary level, mainly via regional programmes. For the 2021-2027 programming period, ESF+ programmes envisage action to better match the education and training system to labour market needs by reforming the system and by training teachers and trainers, providing dual training, apprenticeships and traineeships. For example, the 2021-2027 ESF+ Regional Programme for Lombardy allocates approximately EUR 101 million to the VET system, including EUR 10 million for VET measures for people with disabilities.

5. Higher education

The proportion of young adults with a tertiary educational qualification continued to grow in 2023, reflecting the rising trend in university enrolments seen over the past decade²². In 2023, 30.6% of people aged 25-34 had a tertiary educational qualification, against the EU average of 43.1%²³Women are more likely to hold a tertiary qualification than men (37.6% vs 24.4%), as they do in the rest of the EU, but there is a slightly wider gender gap in Italy (12.7 pps against 11.2 pps). The tertiary educational attainment rate is particularly low among the foreign-born population²⁴, whether EU-born (15.5%) or born outside the EU (13.1%)²⁵, reflecting a continued difficulty in attracting highly qualified people.

The share of STEM graduates remains comparatively low, particularly for women. Of the 2022 graduates, fewer than a quarter (23.4%) had obtained a STEM qualification, compared with an EU average of 26.6%. The proportion of ICT graduates was particularly low, at just 1.5% against the EU average of 4.5%. Only 9.3% of STEM graduates and 0.3% of ICT graduates were women.

The growth in enrolments has been largely driven by online universities. Over the last 10 years, the number of students registered at online universities²⁶grew five-fold to 180 000, while the student population in traditional in-person universities remained broadly stable. The increase can be attributed to specific features of online universities (e.g. more flexibility in managing student time and attendance, no need to relocate, no commuting costs for students who do not live near a university and the perception that online exams are less difficult). These features appeal to a particular student profile: older, often in employment and, in about half the cases, students who have not finished tertiary education. Despite overlaps in some disciplines (e.g. psychology and pedagogy) and geographical areas (such as the south) the growth in online universities does not appear to pose an immediate threat to traditional universities, which mainly target students with a different profile (ANVUR, 2023). It could, however, spur them to boost their offer of online courses.

The growth in online universities has sparked a debate on the quality assurance requirements they should fulfil, particularly in terms of teaching staff. Online universities are subject to periodic evaluation and accreditation by Italy’s national agency for the evaluation of university and research but have long enjoyed a competitive advantage in terms of staffing requirements, since their online nature enables very large classes. As a result, the student-teacher ratio is much higher than in traditional universities. The teaching staff mainly consists of staff on temporary contracts, selected outside the ordinary university recruitment procedure²⁷. In 2024, the Ministry of University and Research confirmed that existing requirements on minimum staffing levels (three tenured professors per year of programme) should also apply to online universities.

A tertiary educational qualification gives students a significant advantage on the job market. The employment rate of recent (1-3 years) graduates²⁸in the age group 20-34 continued to grow in 2023, reaching 75.4%²⁹- up 22.5 pps since 2014 when it was 52.9% (Figure 2). This is in stark contrast with the employment rates of upper secondary school graduates, both VET (62.2%)³⁰and general (48.3%)³¹. The highest employment rates are among graduates in technology and engineering and in health disciplines at both bachelor’s and master’s level³². They are also more likely to be employed on a permanent contract than graduates from other fields of study. In 2022, tertiary graduates’ net monthly salaries increased in nominal terms. However, the decrease in purchasing power caused by high inflation has resulted in a decrease in real terms³³. By way of example, in 2022, five years after graduation, the average net monthly salary for first-level graduates (ISCED 6) was EUR 1 635, increasing to EUR 1 697 for second-level graduates (ISCED 7). This represents a decrease in real wages of 2.4% and 3.3% respectively compared to 2021 earnings (AlmaLaurea, 2024).

Figure 2: Employment rate of recent tertiary graduates (20-34 year-olds, ISCED 5-8), 2014-2023 (%)

6. Adult learning

Participation in adult learning is still below the EU average. In 2022, 29.0% of 25-64-year-olds had participated in formal and non-formal education and training during the last 12 months, far below the EU average of 39.5%³⁴and the EU targets of 47% by 2025 and 60% by 2030. Low-skilled adults are much less likely to participate in adult learning than high-skilled adults (10.3% v 60.2% respectively). A similar trend can be seen when comparing the participation rate of employed and unemployed people (2.3 times higher for the employed). There is a significant gap between different regions of the country (over 10 pps), with the north registering higher participation rates.

The government is taking steps to strengthen adult learning. The Transition Plan 5.0³⁵provides incentives for companies to train staff in technologies relevant to the digital and energy transition. The plan is endowed with EUR 6.3 billion of EU and EUR 6.4 billion of national funding. To support low-skilled adults, the most relevant measures have been adopted in the field of active labour market policies. In September 2023, the government brought in the ‘Support for training and work’ scheme, which makes financial support available to unemployed people to attend training, provide guidance and participate in job placement projects.

The New Skills Fund (Fondo nuove competenze) was refinanced with an additional EUR 1 billion. The aim of the Fund is to support the digital and green transitions by providing workers with opportunities for re-skilling and up-skilling to meet labour market needs and adapt to new organisational and production models.