In the ‘Guidelines for lifelong guidance’ of 2014 guidance is not only a support for the transition from school to working life. Guidance activities have a permanent value for everyone’s life as they assure the development and support in the decision processes with the purpose of promoting active employability, economic growth and social inclusion.

Adult education courses often go beyond the concept of ‘class’ and foresee personalised study plans.

Examples of guidance to students may be found at local level. In these cases, guidance takes place, after an evaluation of competences already acquired, both prior to enrolment in order to make a more coherent choice, and at the end of the course for continuing the training.

The national register of students

In order to make the actions aimed at fighting school dropouts more efficacious, it has been further encouraged the integration of the National register of students with the regional registers collecting data on the vocational education and training, to obtain one only national system of student register.

At present, all schools record their data in the national register within specific deadlines (related to attendance in autumn and spring data, data related to final assessments and exams at the end of the school year) or whenever it is necessary to communicate changes in single students’ attendance; this procedure permits a real-time update of the register. The register records each student’s personal data, an identification code that follows the student  for his/her whole school path, the student’s intermediate and final assessments as well as switches within the education and training system.

If a student interrupts school attendance, the register records the relevant reasons; when the relevant reasons are not provided, the register points out cases of ‘dropout risk’. This is useful above all to monitor and prevent early school leaving cases that can occur before 14 years of age, because, after that age, students can choose to accomplish compulsory education in the regional vocational education and training pathways, which, at present, are not integrated in the Register. (Source: Servizio Statistico, Miur, Focus ‘La dispersione scolastica’, June 2013).

Source: Ministry of economy and finance – Council of Ministries, National Reform Programme 2014, pp. 62-63 and 142-153.