2015 was, in Italy, the year in which the integration of school, training and the world of employment received the most media coverage. This was mostly due to the ‘Buona Scuola’ state law approval. This topic is now known to the general public with the expression ‘School-work alternance.’ It is not the first time that this theme captures the attention of the Italian educational system. Alternance had already been planned, with different intentions from the current version, by law for secondary schools since the mid-2000s (Legislative Decree no. 77/2005 and Presidential Decrees 87, 88, 89/2010). INDIRE, for at least six years from 2007 onwards, has released the annual report on its use in Italy. The current legislation, however, has completely changed the scenario, introducing a curricular role that alternance could not achieve in the past. The debate on this topic is not new, nor is it an Italian peculiarity, of course. Leaving aside the discussion on the dual system, there has been global discussion for years on the problem of the mismatch between demand and supply of skills.
