Andrea Gavosto

fondazioneagnelli.it

For the Future: International Conference on

Vocational Education and Training Development

Beijing, China

December 5th, 2019

Vocational Educationand Training in Italy

2

Since 2008 the Fondazione has

focussed on education

The Fondazione Agnelli

Fondazione Giovanni Agnelli was

set up in 1966 in memory of the

founder of Fiat «Giovanni Agnelli».

It is a research and advocacy

foundation, and its mission is:

«to research in depth and spread

knowledge about the conditions

on which Italy’s economic,

scientific, social and cultural

progress depends»From the Fondazione Agnelli by-law

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7France Germany Japan Italy

UK United States ChinaSource: Lee-Lee (2016), Barro-Lee

(2018) and Undp (2018)

Italian Education: Increase of Years of School over Time

Since the unification of the

country, Italian education

levels have almost caught up

with other Oecd countries in

terms of years of school.

A massive surge took place

in the aftermath of WWII.

Large geographic differences

still remain, especially in the

South part of the country

Average Number of Years of

School in Selected Countries

4

Source: Pisa 2018

Italian Education: Achievements.

PISA scores in 2018

(grade 10)

According to Pisa

2018 data, just

released,

Italian 15-yrs old

are between 23°

and 29th place

for literacy.

They are also

very weak in

science.

428

457

466

476

479

485

487

492

493

498

504

504

505

512

514

520

520

523

549

555

0 100 200 300 400 500 600

Romania

Greece

Turkey

Italy

Russia

Netherlands

OECD average

Portugal

France

Germany

Japan

UK

United States

Poland

Korea

Finland

Canada

Estonia

Singapore

B-S-J-Z (China)

5

Italian Education: Vocational Education and Training

Italian VET includes 3 tracks, addressed to students from 14 yrs old onwards:

1. Technical Secondary Schools: 826,200 students, last for 5

years. Two main tracks: Business (2 sub-tracks) and

Technology (9 sub-tracks). Mix of academic and practical

subjects.

2. State Professional Secondary Schools: 491,000 students, last for

5 years. 11 tracks: most relevant are handcrafts, hotel training, health

and social services. Mostly practical subjects, with workshop

experience.

3. Regional Professional Agencies: around 315,000 students, last for 3

or 4 years. Mostly in the developed North. Courses according to local

industry characteristics

After high school, students can either join university (with a strong

academic path) or ITS, 2-yrs post-secondary vocational schools .

6

Italian Education: Academic vs Vocational Tracks in Europe

Italy

Germany

France

6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 0 1 2 3 4 5 6

Age of entry Course length

Gymnasium

Realschule (technical)

Hauptschule (professional)

Liceo

Vocational – Technical Schools

University

ITS

University

Universités

Fachhochschule

Berufsakademie

Com

mo

n c

ore

CPGE Grandes Ecoles

IUT

STS

Lycée gén. et tech.

Lycée professionnel

Centre de formation

d’apprentis

Berufsfachschule

Gymn. Oberstufe

Voc. Reg. Training

Vocat. – Professional Schools

Primary

Lower Secondary

Academic – Upper secondary

Vocational – Upper secondary

Tertiary - University

Tertiary – Non-University

Sourc

e: E

uro

sta

tfo

r G

erm

any F

edera

l S

tatistical O

ffic

e

99

1

63

37

4258

7

524

499

503

460

394

408

350

400

450

500

550

Academic School Vocational - Technical Schools

Vocational - Professional Schools Vocational - Regional Training

Scores in TIMSS 2011 (grade

4) and 2015 (grade 8) and

PISA 2018 (grade 10) by track.

Italian Education: Results by Grade

508

494

522

482

405

423

400

450

500

550

Grade 4 Grade 8 Grade 10

Grade 4 Grade 8 Grade 10

VET students show

lower achievements than

students in academic

tracks. They are well

below the Oecd average.

8

17,8

36,9

53,4

48,6

51,8

40

33,6

11,3

6,6

Academic schools

Vocational - Technical Schools

Vocational - Professional Schools

Lower secondary education or below Upper secondary education University degree or above

Italian Education: VET Students come from a less favourable socio-economic Background

17.8 48.6 33.6

36.9 51.8 11.3

6.653.4

9

100Lower secondary school graduates

53.9%Academic Schools

44.7%Vocational Schools

1.4%Vocational Reg

Training

0.5%Dropouts

0.9%Graduates*

38.3%Graduates**

5.4%Grade retainers /

dropouts

12.3%University

25.6%Labour market

0.4%Non-academic tertiary ed.

3.3%Dropouts

9%Graduates*

10.2%Employed (2ys

after graduation)

15.4%Unemployed /

NEET

0.3%Graduated

after 2 years

0.1%Dropouts

Italy – A Cohort Progression through the VET System

10

100Lower secondary school graduates

53.9%Academic Schools

44.7%Vocational Schools

1.4%Vocational Reg

Training

0.5%Dropouts

0.9%Graduates*

38.3%Graduates**

5.4%Grade retainers /

dropouts

12.3%University

25.6%Labour market

0.4%Non-academic tertiary ed.

3.3%Dropouts

9%Graduates*

10.2%Employed (2ys

after graduation)

15.4%Unemployed /

NEET

0.3%Graduated

after 2 years

0.1%Dropouts

Italy – A Cohort Progression through the VET System

* After 4 years since the beginning. ** After 6 since the beginning

11

100Lower secondary school graduates

53.9%Academic Schools

44.7%Vocational Schools

1.4%Vocational Reg

Training

0.5%Dropouts

0.9%Graduates*

38.3%Graduates**

5.4%Grade retainers /

dropouts

12.3%University

25.6%Labour market

0.4%Non-academic tertiary ed.

3.3%Dropouts

9%Graduates*

10.2%Employed (2ys

after graduation)

15.4%Unemployed /

NEET

0.3%Graduated

after 2 years

0.1%Dropouts

Italy – A Cohort Progression through the VET System

* After 4 years since the beginning. ** After 6 since the beginning

12

100Lower secondary school graduates

53.9%Academic Schools

44.7%Vocational Schools

1.4%Vocational Reg

Training

0.5%Dropouts

0.9%Graduates*

38.3%Graduates**

5.4%Grade retainers /

dropouts

12.3%University

25.6%Labour market

0.4%Non-academic tertiary ed.

3.3%Dropouts

9%Graduates*

10.2%Employed (2ys

after graduation)

15.4%Unemployed /

NEET

0.3%Graduated

after 2 years

0.1%Dropouts

Italy – A Cohort Progression through the VET System

* After 4 years since the beginning. ** After 6 since the beginning

13

100Lower secondary school graduates

53.9%Academic Schools

44.7%Vocational Schools

1.4%Vocational Reg

Training

0.5%Dropouts

0.9%Graduates*

38.3%Graduates**

5.4%Grade retainers /

dropouts

12.3%University

25.6%Labour market

0.4%Non-academic tertiary ed.

3.3%Dropouts

9%Graduates*

10.2%Employed (2ys

after graduation)

15.4%Unemployed /

NEET

0.3%Graduated

after 2 years

0.1%Dropouts

Italy – A Cohort Progression through the VET System

* After 4 years since the beginning. ** After 6 since the beginning

14

Italy – A Cohort Progression through the VET System

100Lower secondary school graduates

53.9%Academic Schools

44.7%Vocational Schools

1.4%Vocational Reg

Training

0.5%Dropouts

0.9%Graduates*

38.3%Graduates**

5.4%Grade retainers /

dropouts

12.3%University

25.6%Labour market

0.4%Non-academic tertiary ed.

3.3%Dropouts

9%Graduates*

10.2%Employed (2ys

after graduation)

15.4%Unemployed /

NEET

0.3%Graduated

after 2 years

0.1%Dropouts

* After 4 years since the beginning. ** After 6 since the beginning

15

Italian Education: Employers need Skilled Workers more than in the Rest of Europe.

Employment growth (% annual rate) from 2018 to 2030

-1,5% -1,0% -0,5% 0,0% 0,5% 1,0% 1,5% 2,0% 2,5% 3,0%

Legislators, Senior Officials And Managers

Professionals

Technicians And Associate Professionals

Clerks

Service Workers And Shop And Market Sales Workers

 Skilled Agricultural And Fishery Workers

Craft And Related Trades Workers

Plant And Machine Operators And Assemblers

 Elementary Occupations

EU Italy

Source: CEDEFOP 2019

-1.5% -1% -0.5% 0% 0.5% 1% 1.5% 2% 2.5% 3%

16

Vocational Regional Training in Italy – A Case Study

The quality of Vocational Regional Training institutions and services is very

heterogeneous across Italian regions. We investigated the efficacy of the Vocational

training programmes in Piedmont (a large region in the North part of the country)

Two objectives of the programmes:

• To provide students with valuable skills for the job market;

• observed outcome: employment status 1y, 2ys, 3ys after graduation

• To give a second chance to students who have dropped out from the schooling system;

• observed outcome: probability to obtain a VT regional degree

17

38,7 40,144,7 47,4 47,6

41,9 41,1

10,0 6,4

7,38,4 11,2

11,35,2

51,3 53,548,1

44,2 41,246,8

53,7

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

NEET Underemployed Employed

Vocational Regional Training in Italy: Employment Status

Half of the 25,235 VT

graduates in the period

2009-2015 had a

permanent job two years

after graduating

Source: Bernardi and De Simone, 2017

53.548.1 44.2

41.246.8

53.7

10.0 6.4

7.38.4

11.2

11.35.2

38.7 40.144.7 47.4 47.6 41.9

41.1

51.3

18

Among the 38,404

enrolled students in 2007,

1 in 3 dropped out.

But the completion rate

has been constantly

increasing up to 2013 and

by the end of the

observation period, only 1

out of 4 students dropped

out.

Vocational Regional Training in Italy: Degree Completion

66,1%

74,0%

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

Source: Bernardi and De Simone, 2017

Observed rate of completion

66.1%

74.0%

19

Vocational Regional Training in Italy: VET Local Agencies can be ranked according to their Performance over the two Targets

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

45%

50%

55%

60% 65% 70% 75% 80% 85%

equality without efficacy

many graduates but weak

performance on the job market

average

employment rate

double efficacy area

high completion rates

high employent rates

double inefficacy area

low completion rates low

employment rates

inequality area

just a few graduates with

high employment rates

average completion rate

(A) Share of graduates over enrolled

(B)

Sh

are

of

em

plo

ye

dg

rad

uate

s

Source: Bernardi and De Simone, 2017

20

Italian VET includes 3 strands: Technical, State professional and

Regional. This creates duplicates and confusion at the moment of

choice.

The level of competencies at VET is poor, compared to OECD

standards and academic tracks. This reflects the adverse self-

selection of students into vocational tracks: typically students have

poor records and come from a weak social background.

The fact that VET graduates have almost no opportunity to take a

tertiary vocational degree, such as German Fachhoschulen,

reinforces the adverse self-selection.

Employers are in strong need of a better qualified technical workforce

Employment rate of vocational graduates is 49% within 2 years; only

29% are employed in jobs consistent with their studies.

VET has an important role in fighting school drop-out, as the study by

Fondazione Agnelli shows

Italian Education: Lessons from Vocational Education and Training

andrea.gavosto@fondazioneagnelli.it

VOCATIONAL EDUCATION AND

TRAINING IN ITALY

fondazioneagnelli.it