Recent data in Italy on school dropouts are excellent. We have commented here on Buone Notizie on the successes achieved by our country in the fight against the phenomenon of school dropouts. A result due to multiple factors, such as greater attention to the subject and reflection on its importance. The key words for this result are “investments” on the part of the State, “attention” from schools on what is happening in the world of work, but above all transversal and territorial skills. Is what has been done sufficient or is it just a starting point to achieve broader and more sustainable results?
“Much has been done and much more will be done, I hope. It's not the number of actions you take that defines the outcome. It's the quality of the decisions you make that matters. And it is a variable that is defined case by case, territory by territory. But we need one more step, one that will take us the big leap into the future.“. Giulio Ceccanei, trainer who has been offering Path for the Development of Transversal Skills (PCTO) projects in schools throughout Italy for many years, offers us a privileged point of view to see the possible path to take.
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The weapon against dropping out of school
The resources used in projects related to the development of this type of skills have produced excellent results: over the last 4 years, approximately 4% fewer students prematurely leave their studies before obtaining a diploma, by 13 .5 to 9.4%. An improvement made in investments and, therefore, also in decisions. For 2 years, they have been 325 million euros invested in projects for schools aimed at developing transversal skills which will help children successfully complete their education. These are the words of the Minister of Education, Giuseppe Valditara.
The scale of the economic effort leads us to understand how important it is to invest in the development of these skills. “These are all those skills that are not required to do a certain job –Ceccanei clarifies– these are not technical skills, which are nevertheless fundamental today to participate in a world that is not limited to the world of work. They arise above all from experience, from alternative perspectives which open before our eyes during life and which the school strives to bring to children.
“Transversal skills, yes, but above all the territory”
PCTO courses are a compulsory part of the school experience introduced in 2019, when they replace the old school-to-work program. Thanks to this integrated experience children would be able to develop multiple skills, such as leadership, communication, problem solving, the ability to adapt to a certain environment. In short, so many elements which are not explicitly required in the CV, but which increasingly make the difference, both in the recruitment phase by companies and in life within the world of work.
“But watch out for what’s going on around here!” –warns Ceccanei- THE'The biggest mistake we can make today is to take the good result of the school dropout data, to imagine that it is a norm for all of Italy and to continue with the same path without going to the next step. PCTO means “pathway” where the development of transversal skills is very important, but where orientation is the fundamental element“. This means understanding the needs of a territory, what it needs at the moment. This orientation cannot only come from children but also and above all from trained teachers and school principals who know how to capture these needs.
The extra step
In addition, it must be kept in mind that each territory is different. “It's like having a compass in your hand, where the kids are in the boat with you, but you're the one who has to respond to change and point the route. I hope that soon professional figures will be trained within schools who know how to do it: lead the way with foresight.”
The recommended path is to follow in the footsteps of the new ITS, the post-graduate technical institutes that are flourishing throughout Italy, because they have been able to interpret the needs of the territory and the labor market. They knew make the good efforts made in recent years a functional model, but, more than anything, reproducible and durable.
