Its Academy, another 130 million ready for workshops

Another 130 million euros are ready to strengthen the laboratories of the Its Academies. Yesterday, the Minister for Education and Merit, Giuseppe Valditara, signed the decree releasing these residual resources from the NRP, which are aimed at strengthening highly innovative workshop teaching, one of the distinctive features of the Its Academies (along with the central presence of businesses, right from the co-design phase of the training offer).

"The new laboratories,' Minister Valditara tells us, 'will allow our young people to learn in the field, with cutting-edge tools, developing skills that can really be used in local production chains. It is a strategic choice for Italy: we are focusing on merit, quality employment and innovation'.

With a national average mismatch of 50 per cent (60 per cent and more for technical-scientific skills), the challenge is to begin to reverse course, increasing the number of students enrolled in the Its Academy to reach the European target of 22,000 students by March 2026 (we are already at around 40,000 students, so the EU target is met).

In detail, these 130 million euros, which are in addition to the approximately 514 million already allocated to the Its Academy Foundations for the enhancement of training laboratories, will be used exclusively for new laboratories or for the enhancement of existing ones that have not yet been financed. Up to 30 per cent of the funds may be used for building works, if strictly necessary and functional for laboratory activities. The funds will be distributed according to established criteria: a fixed 40% share and a variable 60% share linked to the number of enrolled students, with a guarantee of at least 40% of the resources earmarked for the Its Academies in the southern regions.

From Bergamo to Frosinone, from Parma to Perugia, from Udine to Bari, to name but a few examples, the fruits of this massive injection of resources into the system are being seen, with the blossoming of laboratories of excellence, equipped with the very latest equipment and technology. It is no coincidence that, as the latest Indire monitoring showed, the Its Academies have now become high-tech training 'gyms', given that they foster the development of digital skills through 4.0 enabling technologies in a percentage equal to 69% of the courses (we are talking about Big data and analytics, Industrial Internet, augmented reality to support production processes, simulation, artificial intelligence). This is especially the case in the mechanical engineering and ICT sectors.