The context
Italy is currently facing a significant challenge in promoting social mobility, with one of the lowest rates among high-income countries. This trend is partly attributable to deterministic and social factors rooted from birth, but is primarily driven by an extremely high level of educational poverty (Con I Bambini, 2020).
In particular, the NEET rate — young people not in education, employment, or training — in Italy exceeds the OECD average, affecting 23.3% of the national youth population and surpassing 30% in some southern regions (ISTAT, 2021).
The pandemic and the subsequent prolonged school closures have worsened an already problematic situation, significantly reducing the educational outcomes of the Italian school system.
To further complicate this picture, Italian teachers are among the oldest within OECD countries, receiving lower salaries and less training compared to their counterparts in other countries in the region.
The project
Founded in 2019 to tackle inequalities and educational poverty in Italy, Teach for Italy (TFI) is a non-profit organisation aiming to strengthen the Italian school system by starting with the most disadvantaged communities.
The organisation recruits top university students, graduates, or young professionals and places them in an intensive two-year fellowship programme that immerses them in the Italian education system. During these two years, the teacher fellows teach in schools facing the greatest challenges related to educational poverty, while receiving training and support to become “transformative teachers” committed to changing not only their students’ academic outcomes but also their worldview and self-perception.
The primary goal of Teach for Italy is to build a network of future educational leaders across all sectors of the country (public and private), who will dedicate the rest of their lives to strengthening public education and tackling educational inequalities in Italy.
Having completed its first three years of the start-up phase, Teach For Italy began implementing a three-year growth plan in 2023, aiming to place a minimum of 120 fellows per year within the education system by 2025-26. Increasing the number of fellows means reaching more students, with the goal of improving their educational attainment today and their opportunities to achieve their life goals tomorrow.
Fondazione Marcegaglia’s contribution of €70,000 over three years will be allocated to covering part of the costs required for the recruitment, selection, training, and pedagogical coaching of 7 female teacher fellows.
