Educational and social deprivation: one in three pupils lives in towns with no secondary schools or cultural facilities

One in three students in Italy lives in municipalities without secondary schools, whilst 34.1% of young people aged between 11 and 19 live in areas without cinemas, theatres or venues for live performances, and 13.7% of young people aged between 11 and 19 say they have no friends they can confide in. This is the picture drawn up by the InClasse platform based on Istat data and presented today in the Chamber of Deputies during the event organised by Fondazione Articolo 49 in collaboration with the European Parliament Office in Italia and under the patronage of the European Commission, dedicated specifically to young people and schools. The highlight of the day was the awards ceremony for educational projects developed through the InClasse platform during the 2025–2026 school year, in which over 40,000 students took part.

In Italia, on average, one in three pupils lives in municipalities without secondary schools. In Veneto, this figure rises to 56.7%, with peaks of 93% in rural areas, whilst in Valle d’Aosta the percentage reaches 63%, with 91.5% in sparsely populated areas. Added to this is the fact that 26.4% of state schools cannot be reached by public transport (with peaks of nearly 50% in Campania and Calabria) and 22.5% of state schools (primary and lower secondary) have no school bus services. And that is not all. The situation is no better when it comes to ‘educational poverty indicators’ (territorial, social and cultural context). 34.1% of young people aged between 11 and 19 live in areas without cinemas, theatres or venues for live performances. This figure rises to over 50% in Molise and Basilicata and to 45.1% in Sardinia. Furthermore, according to the data, 1 in 2 under-17s lives in municipalities without museums offering spaces and/or activities organised for children and young people. Among the worst-performing regions are Lombardy (62.9%) and Veneto (62.2%). By contrast, only 15.1% of under-17s live in municipalities without libraries offering spaces and/or activities organised for children and young people, but this figure shows significant regional disparities, reaching 53.9% in Basilicata, 53.3% in Molise and 51.6% in Calabria. Indicators relating to young people’s social lives and civic participation are also cause for concern: 13.7% of young people aged between 11 and 19 say they have no friends they can confide in, whilst 1 in 10 young people see their friends less than once a week. Young people’s sense of loneliness is also exacerbated by their distance from politics: 50% do not engage in civic or political participation, and 9 out of 10 in the 14–19 age group do not do any voluntary work.

It is against this backdrop that the educational projects of the Fondazione Articolo 49 take place; today, these projects were the focus of an awards ceremony for 16 classes from across Italia and also from an Italian school abroad (in Egypt). The winning classes received a total of €8,700, comprising €4,200 in teaching materials and €4,500 in school trip vouchers. For VIVA LA COSTITUZIONE – The ‘Evviva la libertà!’ contest, which invited pupils in the fourth and fifth years of primary school to reflect on the values of peace, democracy, freedom and equality—fundamental to civil coexistence and active citizenship—awarded prizes to the projects by Class 5B of the I.C. Bozzano - Centro (Brindisi, Puglia), class 4A of the primary school in Masone (Genoa, Liguria) and classes 5A and 5B of the Manta primary school in Saluzzo (Cuneo, Piedmont). For GEA EDU – ‘Ideas for the Future’ Contest, a programme on sustainability and the circular economy aimed at upper secondary schools, the winning classes were 5D from the Laura Bassi High School in Sant’Antimo (Naples, Campania), classes 3H and 5H from the IIS F. Patetta in Cairo Montenotte (Savona, Liguria) and classes 2B, 2ME and 2A from the Don Bosco Institute in Alexandria (Egypt). For MI PIACE UN MONDO – the “Good Habits” contest, which invited primary school children to focus on the good habits that make eating a healthy and sustainable practice for the planet too, the winners were class 5A from the IC primary school in Bozzano di Brindisi (Puglia), class 2B of the P. Scuderi IC Santo Calì primary school in Linguaglossa (Catania, Sicily) and class 2A of the Giovanni XXIII primary school in San Fior (Treviso, Veneto). The three winning projects in the “#NEXT STEP” contest, which helped boys and girls in lower secondary schools to discover themselves and their talents and aspirations, guiding them towards making an informed choice about their educational and life paths, are those of Class 3F at the IC Michelangelo Augusto in Naples (Campania), Class 2A of the ICS Diaz in Laterza (Taranto, Puglia) and Class 1M of the IC Cassola in Cecina (Livorno, Tuscany). Finally, for ONLINE, ONLIFE – the “Pay AttentiON” contest, which invited boys and girls from lower and upper secondary schools to explore issues related to digital safety and wellbeing through creative and original projects, the winners were Class 1A of the Iacampo - Matese in Vinchiaturo (Campobasso, Molise), Class 1A of the IC Maria Montessori in Cardano al Campo (Varese, Lombardy), Class 2B of the Liceo Scientifico Galilei in Potenza (Basilicata) and Class 1E of the IC G. Cardano in Gallarate (Varese, Lombardy).

The winning projects are supported by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food Sovereignty and Forestry and, amongst others, the National Research Council (CNR), APRE, ISPRA, ASviS, Symbola, the Forum for Sustainable Development and 17 Italian regions. The projects were developed with the support of Bitron, iN's Mercato, Q8 Italia, Almaviva and Boeing, Altroconsumo, and Unirima.