Two years after its launch, the Liceo del Made in Italy continues to move the first timid steps in the Italian school system. According to the statement by the Minister of Education Giuseppe Valditara during an event dedicated to the value of Made in Italy, enrollments for the school year 2024-2025 have reached 511, up from 420 the previous year. An increase of 21.7% which the minister defines as “positive and encouraging”, despite the fact that the absolute number remains very low when compared to the total number of students enrolled in high schools: 0.09% according to ministerial data.
The project, enthusiastically promoted by the government of Meloni, was designed to create a direct bridge between school and local business fabric, through a school path that, although embedded in the high school of human sciences with economic optionsocial, it should have transmitted skills related to the world of Made in Italy, from crafts to cultural industry.
However, the numbers tell a much more complex story. When the registrations started, the initial clamour subsided and the institutional communication around the new address was much more discreet. Few details on educational content, poor promotion and poorly structured guidance have helped to limit the interest of families and students. Compared to the 128 schools that initially applied for the address, only a part has actually started classes, and this thanks to a ministerial derogation which allowed at least 17 students per section to leave, in place of the 27 required by law.
THE ANALYSIS
The idea of a high school that values Italian excellence in production is culturally fascinating and potentially strategic, but requires a paradigm shift. Teaching cannot be limited to an adaptation of the existing, nor to identity slogans. To make a Liceo del Made in Italy really work, you need:
Original and vertical content, built with the contribution of companies and production chains.
Trained teachers and solid partnerships with the world of work, able to guarantee internships, projects, concrete experiences.
A strong orientation campaign, able to tell families not only “what you study”, but above all “what future offers”.
In the context of a school system that still struggles to dialogue with the world of business and where high school courses are often perceived as theoretical and distant from real employment opportunities.
Until the ambiguity between educational objectives and political impulses, between cultural vision and propaganda slogans is overcome, the growth of this project will be marginal. Percentage numbers are not enough to restore credibility to an initiative that, if well built, could instead represent a formidable lever to revive the Italian productive pride.
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