Abstract
The need for training and guidance to be provided synergistically as part of the same path is well accepted.
Identification of the level of learning and commitment, individual aptitude and aspirations cannot be left only to the choices of individuals and their parents. In personal, family and social terms, the investment, not only economic-financial but also in terms of cultural and professional growth and social advancement is too high and strategically important to be implemented without the support necessary to reduce the risk of failure or wasted effort (dropping out, delays etc.).
Keywords
1 Introduction
The need for training and guidance to be provided synergistically as part of the same path is well accepted.
Identification of the level of learning and commitment, individual aptitude and aspirations cannot be left only to the choices of individuals and their parents.
In personal, family and social terms, the investment, not only economic-financial but also in terms of cultural and professional growth and social advancement is too high and strategically important to be implemented without the support necessary to reduce the risk of failure or wasted effort (dropping out, delays etc.). This does not affect the choice of a precise political-social model and the State has a duty to ensure social mobility for deserving individuals as well as equal opportunities (also in a gradual manner, if necessary) across the national territory.
Likewise, urgent new investments in schools, universities and research are essential for the country in the current adverse economic climate. These should always be seen as high-return investments and not costs. In 2009, the Bank of Italy commissioned an important, detailed study on this topic.
“In the long term, the higher public expenditure required to fund an increase in education levels would be more than offset, especially in the South, by the increase in tax revenue, the taxation system being unchanged, and by the lower costs generated by the increase in employment rates.”
Therefore, a comprehensive scheme must be put in place to connect education and training with civil society.
2 Objectives
We intend to highlight the links and the move from secondary school to university education, also considering certain aspects of post-university education.
To this end, the following aims should be considered:
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Increase the number of university graduates, aligning it with that of more advanced European States;
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Enable deserving students to access advanced education. In this regard, it is essential to make investments in the “Right to Education“;Those students who are “falling behind” with their university studies should receive guidance to help them choose alternative education or employment pathways more in line with their aptitude and experience;
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Respond positively to the strong demand coming from young people to “renegotiate” the conditions of their future, recognising their right to work, to social advancement based on merit, to make free and informed choices about their future;
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Improve the reputational capital of the education system and its effectiveness in preparing young people for employment.
3 Tools Needed and How to Use Them
To achieve these objectives it is necessary to:
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Consider education and guidance as a single system along the whole educational supply chain;
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Draw up a single, multi-annual plan covering: objectives, personnel, facilities, services and financial resources for the development and operation of the whole system and its subsystems;
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Provide for operational flexibility of peripheral structures, based on their greater autonomy and self-programming capacity. This would be a participatory model, in which the teachers of the various educational agencies, students and families discuss the issues of the different educational levels with stakeholders and local authorities;
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Choose a model based on merit and personal aptitude in which - at the points of transition between the different subsystems - assessment is mainly systemic and only occasionally based on interviews or tests. Hence, assessments based on the “continuity and consistency” of the previous educational path and on respect of planned time-frames (especially for working students);
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Prepare ranking lists (adjustable over time) for exercise of the students’ admission rights. This right is especially important for courses with a pre-set or planned number of admissions;
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Change the current curricula for the various types of degree and establish 4 macro-areas:
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(A)
Life Sciences
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(B)
Technology
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(C)
Social-economic and legal
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(D)
Literary
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(A)
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Draw up a new guidance and educational model for students lagging behind their university schedule. Establish clear deadlines for students currently lagging behind and ensure they can either complete their education (even by means of individual agreements) or transition to work;
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Create a systematic link between education, research, and the labour market, at both central and local level. This systemic and synergistic link must perforce involve all education and training institutions;
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Pay special attention to models and tools for assessing aptitude, educational levels and expectations. These models, apart from being defined and tested at central level, must ensure the highest possible level of objectivity and transparency. In the initial phase, they should be binding only for individual universities. In the event of transfer, a committee could be set up to assess the comparability of assessments and hence admission to the ranking lists of the “receiving” university.
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Design a dynamic and open paradigm for transfers between different degree courses. This should include courses with a cap on admissions and ensure regular monitoring and updating of ranking lists. This is to allow the exit of those who failed to meet the required standards and the entry of students who have achieved outstanding results in less in-demand degree courses [1].
4 Programming and Updating Model at Peripheral and Regional Level
As stated in the introduction, it is necessary to coordinate and plan at national and regional level the various components of the education system (Primary, Secondary, University and Postgraduate). This coordination must rest on the autonomous programming capacity of each school, cluster of schools in a single municipality or district and the schools of a whole region. This is because the constantly changing social and economic environment requires constant updates that cannot be left to the central government alone.
One allied benefit of local coordination would be to limit national and regional red tape and ensure that the evolution of the organisation of educational processes is not entrusted entirely to rigid and complex legislative procedures [2, 3].
Another important task of the “Peripheral Programming and Updating Model” would be to periodically review the currency and relevance of the educational contents to be delivered by teachers and guidance counsellors (in the transition between lower and upper secondary school and between upper secondary school and university). Review at secondary school level would be ensured by coordination of the various local school managers and authorities (Guidance Council), while review in the transition to the university would be carried out by creating a joint school-university council. In this case too, the stakeholders’ opinion should be considered, while not being binding. This approach would remove the risk of a self-referential approach and would harmonise the boundaries between the different educational subsystems. The link to be achieved between education, the community and the territory is equally important. The aim is also to monitor constantly the effectiveness of the educational supply chain in enabling young people to enter the labour market and social processes.
5 Conclusions
For this reason, too we propose a general education-guidance-selection model, participated and informed, in which the different stakeholders shape and control the entire educational supply chain, from primary and secondary education to university and postgraduate education.
Thus, this approach offers an overall model for participated guidance, in which the teachers at the different educational levels operate within a system approach and interact dynamically and constantly with stakeholders along the entire educational path. An education and guidance system designed around students, to support their right to employment, to have their needs met, to shape their own destinies. This approach would empower stakeholders (students, families, representatives of businesses and industry) to control actively a system in which educational pathways are in line with social and economic changes, avoiding rigidities stemming from the defence of privileges and unfair benefits. A single education and guidance system supporting students in making their educational choices, helping them to correct those choices if necessary and supporting them in their personal, cultural and civic growth and in accessing the labour market. A system able to plan its activities autonomously and to monitor that each phase in the education pathway is as close as possible to the general public interest.
Accordingly, when students are assessed for admission to courses subject to quota restrictions - by reference to structural and operational capacity and to regional, national and European demand - it is necessary to assess student capacity, aptitude, knowledge and consistency of learning effort. Young people must be aware that their education, testing and guidance process is essential for their future transitions and choices. This awareness can be boosted by a system of incentives and consequences based on their learning effort and test results. This would take the form of systematic recording of learning credits and/or debts accompanying individual selection tests.
Accepting the principles of this preliminary and indicative model could be a first step for reflecting on the objectives of a process to rationalise schools and, especially, universities, in terms of scientific-didactic and professional contents.
References
Cingano, F., Cipollone, P.: I Rendimenti dell’Istruzione. Questioni di Economia e Finanze 53, 15 (2017)
Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development: The PISA 2003, Assessment Framework. Mathematics, Reading, Science and Problem Solving Knowledge and Skills. OECD, Paris (2003)
Trapasso, R., Staats, B.: Policy complementarities and OECD national skills policies, working paper. OECD (2017)
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Marino, D., Miceli, A., Stilo, P. (2019). Integrated System of Training and Orientation: Towards a Measurement of Outcomes. In: Calabrò, F., Della Spina, L., Bevilacqua, C. (eds) New Metropolitan Perspectives. ISHT 2018. Smart Innovation, Systems and Technologies, vol 100. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-92099-3_24
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