Education gaps: a deep problem

Abstract

The existence of significant territorial disparities has been a longstanding characteristic of the country’s history. The spread of international comparative research has made it possible to quantify the extent of these gaps in the field of learning. Since 2019, Italy has had a standardised census measure of some basic learning at the end of secondary school (Italian, Mathematics and English). Although it is a partial measure, it has allowed greater granularity in the study of territorial gaps by introducing the concept of
implicit drop-out, understood as the proportion of pupils who have not reached the expected targets in any of the subjects observed. Thanks to the above-mentioned granularity of the data, it has been possible to provide a first measure of territorial disparities within the two largest urban centres in Northern Italy: Milan and Turin. Very worrying data emerged, highlighting severe
learning vulnerabilities even within these two cities, which should also represent a vanguard in terms of education. This work highlights the need to investigate less visible dynamics that can potentially undermine the social cohesion of a territory.