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ITS Umbria Academy, an excellence in the heart of Italy

Years go by, governments change, economic crises and inflationary spirals cyclically return, the devastation of the health crisis is passed, European and non-European conflicts rage, but the ITS (Higher Technical Institute) continue to be an insurance policy for employment. From 2013 to 2022, the average employment rate after graduation has increased from 78% to 87%, as certified by the latest annual monitoring report of Indire (National Institute for Documentation, Innovation, and Educational Research), a research institution under the Ministry of Education.

ITS Umbria Academy

One thing is certain: education can no longer be disconnected from the labour market and must strongly integrate with the local context. In our research journey among the training excellences of Italy, we venture to Umbria, which, as shown in the promotional spot published on all national networks, represents the “green heart of Italy.” Here, we meet engineer Oscar Proietti, the Technical Director and Coordinator of the Technical Scientific Committee of ITS Umbria Academy, who explains the Umbrian model of education and access to employment.

Engineer, in which subject matters are you mainly focused?

More specifically as ITS Umbria Academy, we have started as Foundation in 2010 in a project that had its genesis with President Gabrio Renzacci, your “historical associated partner.” The first classes were held in the exclusive field of mechatronics, related to the technological field of mechanics. After 2011, we made a strategic decision when we started to think about developing a polytechnic ITS, among the first in Italy, which gradually activated all the technological fields specified by the Ministry of Education. What is the current status? We have identified 15 classes covering various technological areas outlined by MIM – the Ministry for the educational paths starting in autumn 2024. Living in a small region, we took advantage of our agility and we are present in all the technological fields closely related to 4.0 Industry (such as mechatronics, digital technologies, etc.), although the range of topics covered is much broader, including marketing, tourism, construction, energy efficiency, environmental protection, biotechnology, agribusiness, and more.

How are the national founds distributed to the ITS?

It’s not so much about winning the ITS championship that matters, but the crucial aspect is rather the prize closely related to the distribution of national funds. 70% is assigned based on enrolled and graduated students, while the 30% remaining – the premium part, is based on rankings for those courses that are adding value with technological upgrades to enhance the attractiveness of the classes. A crucial aspect in this case is the contribution of the Regions, which represent a driving force in relation to the planning and implementation, including of course the remaining significant economic part, of our courses. The law of July 2022 allows us, among some other things, to keep hybrid courses, strongly emphasizing that this concerns the post-diploma academic path. This is because the acronym ITS, with the initial word “Istituto” (Institute), has certainly misled users.

By adding the term “Academy” in the new law, it is clear that we are directly referring to tertiary education, which specifically includes two or three-year courses issuing diplomas at the 5th or 6th level of the EQF (European Qualifications Framework). In fact, students graduating upper secondary school receive a diploma at the 4th level of the EQF, and tertiary training starts from here with two-year courses for the 5th level diploma, three- year courses for the 6th level diploma, and five-year courses for the 7th level diploma. Therefore, the ITS system refers to the 5th and 6th levels with two-year or three-year courses. Specifically, ITS Umbria Academy has so far offered two-year courses, but we do not exclude the possibility of developing three-year courses in the future aimed at 6th level diplomas, equivalent to three-year university degree. The teaching methodology is obviously different, focusing more on practical, laboratory-based learning compared to university courses, due to the different educational objectives of these two types of programs.

As mentioned above, we are an ITS (Higher Technical Institute) affiliated to the Politecnico, and currently, considering the first and second years, we have 30 active classes with about 850 students attending. If we also include students who have already passed their exams a few months ago and still remain within our sphere to achieve consistent employment, we are talking about more than 1.100 students.

Tutto ciò ha permesso che l’Umbria, nonostante sia una piccola regione, in termini di formazione ITS Academy, si attesti nel ranking storico nazionale come la regione più virtuosa. Le altre regioni hanno una molteplicità di Fondazioni ITS, noi abbiamo preferito concentrare tutte le nostre forze, vista la dimensione territoriale, in un’unica Fondazione.

How are they structured the governing bodies and which are the associative and institutional entities that support them?

First of all, the Board of Directors, which by virtue of the new law becomes CDA, is the statutory body where is present the public side, the Province of Perugia as well as the University of Perugia, Confindustria and the other employers’ associations that are all partner members of the Foundation and part of the Board of Directors (CDA). Then, obviously, as normal in a dual training model, there are many companies that are present in the Board of Directors as founding members. The other statutory body is the Technical- Scientific Committee, composed of managers and experts from various technological fields covered by the courses, chaired by me as the Technical-Scientific Director of the ITS Umbria Academy Foundation. Then there is the entire equally fundamental world of partner companies, hundreds of which participate in our Design Centres where, based on a requirements analysis, is developed the educational plan for the various courses.

How are the companies being involved?

The collaboration with the companies is developed and structured in three stages: in the first phase there is the design of the process, made in the Design Centre and organized with working groups that participate in a consulting and advisory form together with the Scientific Technical Committee. The Design Centres meet at least three times per year, while the Technical Scientific Committee has a busier schedule. In the first step, is carried out an identification of the needs together with the companies, an essential step in building the training offer. The second step, involving the companies, concerns the teaching methods. Ministry guidelines stipulate that at least 60% of the teachers should come from the labour field and that they should hold at least the same percentage of teaching hours.

20% of them must have an university background, while the rest should come from training bodies, as for example: school teachers with a preliminary training based on the students’ school background. The third participation step concerns the curricular business internships. In this case as ITS Umbria, we have a pattern that is different from the others and consists of 1.800-hour course, divided in 1.000 hours of practical laboratory training and 800 hours of internship. In the first year, moreover in the first two semesters, we carry out a 1.000-hour training, while in the third semester and partially in the fourth, we proceed with the 800 hours of curricular business internship. In the last period, the students are already included in the organisation chart of the company, and most of them come to take the final examination for graduation with a contract already operational with the company where they have made the internship.

Why are you proposing this training model?

We believe that this training model is proposed with the aim of ensuring that students, when they undertake their internship after one year of specialized training, are more aware and prepared for entering the labour field. We also believe that the SME Umbrian model is more likely to embrace such a pathway than a dual pathway within the first year, where there would be a lack of continuity in the internship. By offering continuity throughout the 800 hours of corporate internship means building a vertical project based on the company’s needs in the third and fourth semesters. This has generated an employment response of 100% in fields such as Mechatronics, and an average of above 80% employment rate after the first year of graduation, that continues to grow over time. All these represent the Umbrian model.

The system must be thoroughly structured in order to grow, and we can say that we are effectively an educational enterprise, as we follow the same criteria as businesses. We have three educational hubs in Perugia, Foligno, and Terni. By hubs, I mean certified workshops, such as the Mechatronics laboratory, which is one of the few certified 4.0 Industry Technology Transfer Centers (CTT) recognized by the Ministry of Economic Development (MISE). The key elements here is the technological aspect. For example, we have the digital hub in Perugia, the mechatronics hub in Foligno, and the chemical biotechnology hub with a focus on circular economy topics in Terni. Additionally, there are other laboratories at various educational sites for all other courses. The defining feature is that these three hubs and the various laboratories are closely linked to the productive sector of our region.

In the light of a positive feedback in business terms, why are we failing to make these training courses attractive in Italy?

First of all, because we arrived quite late in Italy. The dual model in Germany has always existed and today they have around 600.000 students a year enrolled in such programs. Similarly, in France, these programs are running at full capacity. In Italy, the ITS Academies completed their start-up phase with the law in July 2022, becoming fully operational. The goal is to reach 100.000 students in a short period of time, also thanks to investments from the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR).

Is there a competition between ITS Academy and Universities?

There is a very high demand from the productive sector for the training offered by ITS Academies, and even though it is tertiary education, we are not in competition with the universities as we are essentially doing different things. We focus on middle management and specialized technicians that are in high demand. We are in a completely new phase where innovative technologies require greater flexibility in programs. Perhaps this is one of the great strengths of the ITS system, especially compared to other secondary and tertiary training courses.

ITS better responds to the need for matching labour supply and demand on the jobs market, a really crucial element for the sustainability of the productive and social sector. Let me give you an example, if I have 5 companies telling me, we are using a certain technology and we need specific professional training, we proceed as it follows: we identify the teachers, provide the appropriate technology, and prepare a customized training module in a few weeks. This is the flexibility that our young people need, and consequently, the companies that will give them job opportunities.

Certainly, there is still little awareness regarding Higher Technical Institutes (ITS) in Italy. There is a need for a national information campaign dedicated to promoting ITS, that would finally make young people and their families aware of the existence and importance of this tertiary and post-diploma educational system.
In Umbria, we have approximately 7.000 students graduating from upper secondary school each year, and as ITS Umbria Academy, we are able to attract around 500 of them annually, on average (with high attractiveness). We have also become interesting for high school graduates. Among the students enrolled in the two-year program that started last fall, 54% come from technical institutes, 34% from high schools, and 12% from professional institutes. Considering that 34% is a significant figure, given that Italy has a substantial prevalence of high school graduates, this reflects the educational landscape in Umbria where 60% of students attend various types of high schools and 40% attend technical and vocational institutes. These figures, alongside a demographic decline, make it challenging for companies to find suitably skilled personnel.

This is why some ITS are developing collaboration programs with other countries, such as those in North Africa, to identify new resources useful for training and subsequent integration in Italian companies. We hope that with the funds offered by the PNRR (1.5 billion euros), can be created the suitable conditions to overcome these now structural difficulties. ITS is now like a train that has already departed, a moving train that all our young people should consider as an opportunity. The path to the future is already traced; ITS will be among the most widely used educational tools in the future. The new law allows for circularity as part of tertiary education, which means that students who graduate from ITS can work and then subscribe to university courses, seeking for credits recognition. It also allows university drop-outs allowing all those who are unable to complete university, to move on to ITS courses related to their studies, again through credit recognition based on their previous preparation. We hope this can reduce the number of NEETs (young people who do not study and do work), counting nearly 30.000 in Umbria (in the 19-29 age group), and on average 2 million in Italy. This is a discouraging and disorienting statistic, especially in the context of a constant demographic decline, concludes Engineer Proietti.

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