Liguria: the regional government is stepping up investment in ITSs
Additional funds have been allocated, bringing the total for schools to 6.73 million. A further 6.34 million has been set aside for the integration of young people with disabilities
The Liguria Region is focusing on higher technical colleges, allocating €6.73 million to them, as well as on helping people with disabilities enter the labour market, with a further €6.34 million. The regional government, led by Marco Bucci, has just bolstered its investment in vocational training, increasing the resources allocated to ITS courses and initiatives to help young people with disabilities find employment in companies. This addition to the 2026 programme, funded under the PR FSE+ 2021–2027 instrument (which also utilises EU funds), will ensure full funding for the projects submitted under two initiatives already planned.
A further €1.73 million has been allocated for ITS Academy courses, in addition to the €5 million already earmarked. The Region explains that this increase will make it possible to fully fund the projects submitted in response to the regional public call for proposals, including six courses which, with the resources initially available, would have been excluded. Funding is also being increased for training programmes aimed at helping young people with disabilities enter the labour market: €348,376 is being added to the €6 million already earmarked. This additional funding will enable the activities set out in the projects to be funded for the entire target group, comprising 630 students.
“Training,” explained the Region’s Vice-President (and Councillor for Training) Simona Ferro and her counterpart for ESF Programming, Marco Scajola, “is one of the most important tools we have for transforming people’s skills and talent into tangible opportunities for independence and employment. For this reason, we have chosen to increase the available resources and to fully fund the projects submitted, ensuring that no valid initiatives are left out of the programme.”
The ITS programmes, they added, ‘represent a strategic link between specialist training and the needs of businesses, whilst the programmes aimed at young people with disabilities have a value that goes beyond training: they represent inclusion, personal growth and the opportunity to build one’s own future through work. We are talking about a total of over 2 million euros in additional funding; an investment that confirms our commitment to placing skills, employment and equal opportunities at the heart of regional policies. We want to continue building a Liguria in which training can effectively guide people towards the world of work whilst, at the same time, meeting the needs of our productive sector. Investing in skills means investing in the region’s competitiveness, in young people and in the opportunity for everyone to find their place in the community and in the labour market’.
