Increased quality in company-based education and training in Italy

Training for a recognised vocational qualification based on a training standard is uncharted territory for companies in Italy - with the exception of the South Tyrol region. The initial contract of employment for young people in Italy is known as “apprendistato” and is often translated as “apprentice training”. This is not a form of a vocational education and training pathway and does not culminate in a professional examination and a recognised vocational qualification within the education and training system. This impacts negatively on the quality of training and on young people’s mobility in terms of employment and education and training.

This is now about to change. In recent years the Italian government has introduced new reforms which are intended to strengthen the role of companies in the education and training landscape. It is now possible, for example, in the dual model and as part of a learning location cooperation between companies and schools or training providers, for the “apprendistato” to lead to a recognised vocational qualification within the education training system. General training plans (piano formativo quadro) based on national minimum standards have been developed for the company-based education and training in order to provide support for companies in their new role. These represent the planning basis, in terms of subject matter and timing, for the development of the individual education and training plans (piano formativo individuale).

General training plans have been developed for both basic qualifications in hospitality (“operatore per la ristorazione”, in the subjects of “cucina” and “sala e bar”) at level 3 of the European Qualification framework (EQF) as well as for the two additional qualifications at EQF level 4 (comparable with the three year German dual training occupations) (“tecnico di cucina” and “tecnico sala bar“). The professional education and training pathways for gastronomy represent by some distance the most popular vocational education and training subjects in Italy. Currently, more than 100,000 pupils are enrolled on the regional training courses. In the autumn of 2016, the first trainees began their fourth training year based on the new general training plans - for the first time as part of the dual model.

Training was provided at the local level to support trainers so that the companies learn how to use the new training plans to provide systematic support for young people in the acquisition of vocational and personal competencies. These trainers then prepare the training personnel in the companies (tutor aziendale) for their new roles.

The project “FiTT: Forma il Tuo fuTuro! Increasing the quality of apprenticeship for vocational qualifications in Italy” is part of the European Alliance for Apprenticeships within the framework of the initiative “National Authorities for Apprenticeships“ which is funded by the EU Commission. The Italian Ministry of Labour has asked the Veneto region to implement the project in cooperation with German partners and relevant local stakeholders. The aim is to use experiences from the process and the project results at a national level in Italy as a reference model for the development of high-quality company-based education and training models.