School dropout is one of the most serious issues plaguing the Italian education system. Research shows that it is often the most disadvantaged young people, both economically and socially, who drop out of school. To tackle education inequalities, Teach For Italy recruits and trains university graduates to teach in areas the most affected by educational poverty.
Teach For Italy’s mission is to strengthen the Italian education system. To achieve this, Teach For Italy (TFI) selects and trains university graduates from a range of academic disciplines to commit to teach in underserved schools for two years.
School dropout is one of the most serious issues plaguing the Italian education system. A student who leaves school early or fails to acquire the necessary skills to enter the workforce represents an educational failure and a loss for society and the economy. Research shows that it is often the most disadvantaged young people, both economically and socially, who drop out of school. The EU has set a goal to reduce the rate of early school leavers to below 9%. However, Italy exceeds this level, with rates of 16.3% in the South, 11% in the North, and 11.5% in the Centre of the country (ISTAT 2020). Regional disparities are particularly pronounced in Southern regions and the Islands, with Sardinia and Sicily exceeding a 20% early dropout rate – higher than most of the EU.
The Audemars Piguet Foundation for Common Good is supporting a three-year scale-up plan (2024-2026) aiming to increase the number of TFI teaching fellows in the most disadvantaged areas of the country from 70 to 120 per year by the 2026 school year. The grant will also support the development of TFI’s digital learning, monitoring and evaluation tools. This will enhance analysis of programme results and foster a culture of transformative evaluation within the Italian school system.
Through this project, TFI aims to grow a community of leaders committed to combating educational inequalities in Italy, while supporting a movement for innovation and change within the Italian education system.
