The right to read is sacred, but a luxury in Italy.
Finally, the balloon burst. From North to South, students are protesting the high price of university rents and receiving them in response to a political polemic from the Minister of Education that is symptomatic of the caliber of our current ruling class.
Article 34 of our Constitution states that “Those who are able and worthy have the right to reach the highest levels of science, even if it is impossible.” Yet, as common sense suggests, there is a sea between saying and doing. And the truth is that studying today costs money. And not a little.
How much does it cost to study today?
According to a study by the UDU (University Association), the cost of attending university in Italy is at least 11,000 Euros per year if you are away from home and at least 5,000 Euros if you are staying in your home city. These are clearly indicative figures, which are already higher on average than the rest of Europe, not taking into account the high rents of major cities. According to the study, at least 15 billion euros will be needed to make the costs incurred by students more sustainable: these figures are far from what recent governments have allocated annually.
But after all, education hasn’t been a priority in Italy for years. According to the latest Eurostat data, we invest almost half of what France does and 80 billion less than Germany. When we look at the ratio between education expenditures and GDP, we still lag behind European countries despite some timid developments. A dynamic that becomes even more apparent when looking at university education or further vocational education (we allocate just 0.3% of GDP).
The cost of higher education is almost entirely borne by families and individuals, and it is no coincidence that this dynamic coincides with 30 years of significantly hindered societal upswing and increasing social polarization.
Italian graduates have fewer opportunities than Europeans
The thing is, once these costs are incurred, the results may not necessarily come. The video of the young engineer, who proudly disclosed that he refused an insufficient salary of only 750 Euros a month to work in the technical office, where he also did his internship, became the agenda on social media.
A story that is unfortunately not an exception. Only 29.8% of first-level graduates and just over 25% of second-level graduates have a permanent contract one year after graduation. A percentage that has worsened over the years: 41.8% and 31.5% in 2008, respectively. And when you look at the salary, things are even worse. As Almalaurea reveals in its 2021 report, the salaries of graduates in Italy from 2010 to today are comparable to those in 2008, with very small increments if we only look at the most experienced graduates (5 years after graduation).
And if you look beyond our limits, the comparison becomes even more embarrassing. Five years after graduation, an Italian first-tier graduate earns 768 euros per month, respectively, than someone working abroad. When you look at the people living in the center, an increasing percentage (-880 euros) is close to a thousand in the South. The situation does not change in the second level. An Italian graduate earns at least 650 euros in the North, 689 euros in the Center and 826 euros less in the South.
If we look at the employment rate, things do not change. 82.1% of Italian graduates are working, this rate is 4.3 percent below the European average. If we look at those under 35 who graduate from one year to three years, the difference reaches 17.4 points. Therefore, the phenomenon of so-called brain drain is not surprising: According to a study by Unimpresa, the approximately 26,000 graduates who choose to work abroad cost us about 3.6 billion per year.
A development model that condemns us to decline
In this context, it is legitimate for many, students and parents to ask themselves whether continuing their education is worthwhile. The answer is absolutely yes: Graduates get more jobs and better pay here. Moreover, it is undeniable that the benefits of culture cannot be measured solely in terms of economic returns, and that education, beyond one’s work, helps to become better and more informed citizens, men and women.
However, in this context, it is not surprising that Italy ranks last, along with Romania, in terms of the number of graduates in the EU. And in retrospect it all has a lot to do with the type of country you want to create. And the impression is that for years there has been an increasing focus on a model based on the availability of a low-cost workforce rather than innovation and productivity. It is a country that rests on the laurels of the “good old days” as the world turns faster and where the intergenerational agreement has been broken for years.
Italy in 2023 looks more and more dangerously like the country of “No more fathers to remember and no children to respect” evoked by a successful song by Francesco De Gregori. And children are becoming an increasingly rare commodity. Young people make up a minority of the population in Italy today and are therefore often de facto unrepresented. When they try to raise their heads, they find that it has been paternity for at least 20 years. Beginning to truly listen to their wishes and truly invest in education and innovation may be the only antidote to rein in the relentless decline we have condemned ourselves to. It may be too much to ask from a government that tells unemployed youth to “work in the field rather than sitting on the sofa”, that wants to ban foreign words and search by decree, but there is no alternative. Making education ‘affordable’ again for everyone, not just those who can afford it, can be a first step. All the more reason for a Manager who has the singular idea of combining the word “merit” with the word Education.
Source: Today IT

Emma Fitzgerald is an accomplished political journalist and author at The Nation View. With a background in political science and international relations, she has a deep understanding of the political landscape and the forces that shape it.