As of today, Distretto Italia, the project promoted by the ELIS Consortium, is in full swing, with the aim of guiding young people in their study and work choices, training them and placing them at companies.
More than 30 companies, including TIM, employment agencies and others have joined the initiative to overcome the paradox of young people lacking confidence in finding their way and companies failing to hire the thousands of skilled technicians they need. According to recent studies, there are now around 10,000 job vacancies in the construction, digitisation, energy and telecommunications sectors. On this basis, applications for training fibre optics installers, software programmers, site managers and electrical installers are now open on the Distretto Italia platform.
Distretto Italia responds to some worrying data on the relationship young people have with school and work, first and foremost the NEET social problem — three million young people in Italy who are neither studying nor working in the 15-34 age group.
Furthermore, according to a survey carried out in 2022 by ELIS in cooperation with Skuola.net, 45% of high school students say they feel fairly or completely confused about the path to take after graduation, while 57% of students reject the idea of embarking on a study path aimed at a practical profession.
Distretto Italia has three main lines of action involving companies, schools and universities to reach young people mainly in the 16-30 age group:
- Trade School to provide courses structured on the basis of the needs indicated by companies.
- School for School to organise guidance activities through the schools' PCTOs (Percorsi per le Competenze Trasversali e l'Orientamento - Soft Skills and Guidance Courses).
- Future Workshops to train teachers and parents who play an important supporting role in students’ and children's study and work choices.