News
Migrant student in an Italian shelter
Migrant student in an Italian shelter

Workshops to support migrant students in Umbria

Latest update : 2017/10/04
By ANSA Latest update : 2017/10/04

'In everybody's school: quality and rights to prevent school abandonment' is a project run with various organizations and schools involving workshops, apprenticeships and advice aimed at migrant students in the central Italian region.

The project aims to "counter school abandonment and bridge the performance gap between Italian and migrant students, including second-generation migrants", according to a statement from the interior ministry, which has co-funded the project together with the Ministry for Labor and Social Affairs and the European Union. Activities are run by a partnership between training institutes and local organisations such as Cidis Onlus, Consorzio Abn A&B Network Sociale, Cpia 1 Perugia and Cpia Terni, Felcos Umbria, Frontiera Lavoro, Istituto Comprensivo Statale Perugia 12, "with the shared aim of positively influencing the Umbrian school system through the creation of specific skills that might be useful to the promotion of the social and cultural inclusion of non European students."


Training for students and school staff 

The project includes training for school staff in the integration of foreign pupils, including courses in school jargon and a cultural and linguistic mediation service. The initiatives "intend to open the school doors to families so they can actively participate in their children's schooling". Pupils can attend language and study skills workshops, intercultural and community journalism workshops and afternoon opening for study support and co-studying workstations. "Particular attention will be given to NEET (not (engaged) in education, employment or training), namely young people who are left hanging between school/training and the world of work," the interior ministry says. They will have access to job orientation services leading to a three-month apprenticeship. Lastly, school personnel, students and their families will have access to an itinerant service offering advice on matters of school insertion and intercultural teaching. The project will run until September 2018.