Vocational education and training
An infrastructure for growth must be designed to increase the number of people who share in the collective well-being. On this basis, social cohesion and local development can grow hand in hand. The first branch of ER Education and Research Emilia-Romagna is the regional Vocational education and training system, which offers further study to school-leavers at the end of compulsory secondary education enabling them to embark on a three-year programmeto obtain a vocational qualification.
Italian national legislation establishes that the school system – consisting of vocational institutes, technical institutes and high schools – may only award higher education diplomas at the end of a five-year programme. To offer differentiated educational programmes in line with the requirements, specific features and nature of the local economic and production system, Emilia-Romagna passed Regional Law no. 5/2011, creating the Vocational Education and Training system.
Its strongly work-based three-year courses are designed and implemented jointly by training providers, accredited by the Region, and by vocational institutes. In operation since the academic year 2011-12, the system has equal status with senior high school education and is fully part of the second stage of the Italian secondary education system. Characterised by a high level of methodological and didactic experimentation and interaction with local businesses, the three-year programme is designed to provide not only the technical and professional skills required by the labour market but also linguistic, mathematical, scientific, technological, social-historical and economic skills indispensable in empowering young people to construct their own future as citizens.
After the first introductory year enabling students to consolidate basic skills through individual personalised pathways, they can decide whether to further their studies at a vocational institute or an accredited training institute, and thus choose the most suitable route to a vocational qualification. This two fold opportunity offered to young people is also a way of combating school dropout and giving Vocational education and training a strategic role in the growth of the region.
The Vocational education and training system is the first branch of the ER Education and Research infrastructure not only because it is addressed to young people leaving first-level secondary schooling, but also because it is aimed at translating compulsory education into an effective right. To guarantee this right, in fact, the system does not diminish educational objectives but places the emphasis on different models of learning for inclusion with no discrimination, thus extending opportunities and prospects for young people.
The three-year courses in Emilia-Romagna offer the possibility to choose from 23 vocational qualifications.The qualifications provide access to the world of employment but the choice of a three-year pathway does not exclude the possibility of pursuing further studies and continuing in education.
To obtain a diploma, students who have attended the three-year programme at a vocational institute can continue in secondary school until a fifth year. Students who have obtained the qualification at accredited training providers, and pass an examination of acquired skills, can return to secondary school to complete the last two years. Alternatively, having obtained the three-year diploma, students can specialise and improve their professional skills through various other opportunities offered by ER Education and ResearchEmilia-Romagna.