Valditara: ‘Over 41,000 students enrolled at ITSs – now let’s move forward with the 4+2 scheme’

The relationship between schools and businesses is “strategic” for developing skills that are useful to the economy and offering young people faster routes into work. This was stated by the Minister for Education and Merit, Giuseppe Valditara, in Taranto, during a meeting with business leaders at the Confindustria headquarters.

The discussion centred on the ITS Academies and the reform of the 4+2 technical and vocational education system. “We have achieved extraordinary results, far exceeding expectations,” said Valditara, noting that “the European Commission had set us a target of 22,000 students for 2026, and we have reached as many as 41,000.”

According to the minister, the new model ‘was designed specifically to strengthen the ITS system and provide our young people with job opportunities more quickly, bringing them great personal satisfaction and professional fulfilment’. He added that the system is ‘highly valued by the business community because it ensures the competitiveness of our companies’.

Valditara then emphasised the importance of dialogue between educational institutions and businesses: “My visit to Taranto is also a way of recognising the need for this ever-stronger dialogue between schools and the business world, in the interests of our young people and for the development of local areas.” Those present included, amongst others, the president of Confindustria Taranto, Salvatore Toma; Senator Roberto Marti; the director of the Puglia Regional School Office (USR), Giuseppe Silipo; and Silvio Busico, president of ITS Academy Mobilità and of the Active Labour Policies Section of Confindustria Taranto.