The EduC-AR.YOUTH Project aims to analyze the educational vulnerability of the younger generation through several activities: (a) Mapping of regions in the Mezzogiorno to understand how demographic changes, education, infrastructure and migration affect marginalized areas. (b) Identification of factors influencing the educational success/failure and educational choices of young people in order to identify vulnerable groups at risk of dropping out of school. (c) Definition of the concept of “Educational Life Expectancy.” All this requires the development of statistical models to predict the risk of educational fragility based on historical data and sociodemographic variables of students and territories of residence.
(October 2024 – March 2025)
During the reporting period, the project At-risk Youth in an Ageing Society: The Educational Challenge completed WP1, with the drafting of the Management Plan (D1, 100%) and the achievement of Milestone MS1 on schedule (31/12/2024). WP2 (survey design, 80% complete) was launched with the development of interview forms in collaboration with the University of Cagliari, and WP3 (data collection and cleaning, 40%) was launched, based on Scuola in Chiaro data and MIM additions on school dropouts, used to estimate school careers and university transition in the province of Palermo, with the definition of classification criteria for internal areas (ERSU and school districts). Eight collaboration contracts (amounting to between €9,000 and €20,000) have been signed for the construction of databases, territorial maps and statistical models, with a further contract being signed and a notice for reporting verification currently being published. There is a partial critical issue related to the absence of university data updated beyond 2022 by the MUR, which involves the use of provisional estimates in the analyses. The subsequent milestones are in a partial state (MS2 40%, MS3-MS6 not started) but the overall schedule is not compromised.