In Italy, 53% of
elementary schools lack a canteen, a crucial service for helping families ensure a nutritious and appropriate diet.
The situation is critical in the province of Ragusa, where only 3 per cent of institutes offer this opportunity; in Naples and Catania, nine schools out of 10 do not have this service.
Canteens: north-south divide. In the 2024–2025 school year, the provinces that, as a percentage of the total, have more schools equipped with canteens are Prato (90%), Firenze (87%) and Aosta (87%). The canteen, specifically for the 6–10 age group, along with gyms, represents the most important aspect of the services offered in the territory. And, in this case, the North-South divide is evident: the share of primary schools with canteens is 63% in the North-West, 53% in the North-East, 53% in the Centre, 29% in the South, and 28% in the Islands.
The event. The data were presented today in the Italian Senate during the event “Roots for the future – New ideas for the school of 2026”, organised by the Fondazione Articolo 49. The numbers, in particular, emerge from the analysis of the Ministry of Education’s school building registry and merit analysis elaborated by the InClasse platform of the Fondazione Articolo 49, in collaboration with Leonardo Cefalo, doctoral student at the University of Bari, Paolo Maranzano, lecturer at the University of Milan-Bicocca and researcher at the Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei (authors of the study A comprehensive analysis of the Italian school system using harmonised open data via the SchoolDataIT R package published in Statistical Methods and Applications) and Sebastiano Poletti, a statistics student at Milan-Bicocca. The registry contains data from all Italian provinces, excluding Trento and Bolzano.
Gyms: Prato in the lead, followed by Barletta-Andria-Trani and then Milan. The analysis also focused on the presence of gyms in school buildings for primary, secondary, and high schools. It emerges that 44% of primary schools, 57% of secondary schools and 50% of high schools have a gymnasium. Again, the province with the highest figure is Prato, with 84%, followed by Barletta-Andria-Trani with 75% and Milan with 73%. The provinces most lacking are Cosenza (26%), Catanzaro (27%) and Palermo (28%). In this case, the North-South divide is not as evident as for canteens: North-West at 57%, North-East at 49%, Centre at 50%, South at 45%, and Islands at 42%.
Computer classrooms: Aosta in the lead. The north-south divide remains, but it is less marked. Finally, only 62% of Italian middle schools have computer classrooms. The InClasse platform also analysed this variable, considering the historical lack of digital skills among young Italians.
In this instance,
missing data was found to be highly prevalent, particularly in the southern
provinces. For this reason, some provinces were excluded from the analysis. The best province is Aosta (91%, out of 22 schools), Como (89%), and Massa-Carrara (84%). The worst are Cosenza with 35%, Isernia with 38% and Vibo Valentia with 40%. Again, as in the case of canteens, there is a gap between the North and the South, but it is undoubtedly less marked: in the North-West the average presence of IT classrooms is 67%, in the North-East it is 62%, in the Centre it is 65%, in the South 57% and in the Islands 54%.
The projects. During the event, the educational projects InClasse were presented. Five educational paths proposing in-depth studies on highly debated topics in schools today: “Onelife onlife” on the conscious use of the web, social networks and artificial intelligence; “I love it” on food education; “GEA EDU – Ideas for the future” on the development of skills for the ecological transition; “Long live the Constitution, the Constitution is alive” on knowledge of European and national institutions; and “#Next Step – My future starts with me” on skills for school and career guidance. The last edition, related to the 2024–25 school year, involved approximately 30,000 students throughout Italy. Not only that, during the morning’s proceedings, the role of the European Union was discussed together with MEPs from all the Italian delegations represented in the European Parliament who have joined the “Ambassadors of the Constitution” initiative, organised by Fondazione Article 49 as part of the new educational proposal for the 2025–26 school year. The aim of the initiative presented today was to explain, in clear language suitable for an audience of young people, that there is a community that represents and protects them, telling them how the values of the Constitution guide their daily work in the European institutions. Each representative of the institutions was asked to select an educational project from those proposed and answer the question: “What does the European Union do for girls and boys?” Through a short video testimony and a social post, each of them explained what Europe does concretely for young people in that specific area and also sent a message from Europe to boys and girls, encouraging them to make their voices heard. The video testimonies will be used as study material in the teaching projects on the platform inclasse.net and are already available on the eunews.it portal in the page dedicated to the initiative.
The participants. The event was attended by Ernesto Caffo, President of Telefono Azzurro, Massimiliano Capitanio, AgCom Commissioner and Alessandro Mantelli, Chief Technology Officer Almaviva IT Division, Michele Carruba, Honorary President of the Centre for Study and Research on Obesity of the University of Milan, Marco Lucchini, Secretary General of the Banco Alimentare Foundation, Vito Bardi, President of the Basilicata Region together with Enrico Giovannini, Scientific Director ASviS, Anna Clementina Veclani, Managing Director of Boeing for Southern Europe, Valeria Fiore, Head of Communication and Social Media of the EU Parliament in Italy, and Elisa Lanciani, Head of Organization, People & Culture at Bitron.
All educational projects are offered free of charge to Italian schools, in collaboration with the European Parliament – Office in Italy and under the patronage of the European Commission and the Forum for Sustainable Development. Almaviva, Bitron, Boeing, Sustainable Meats, IN’s and Unirima are thanked for their support.
“Sustainable aerospace is born in our communities, in those in which Boeing operates and has been present for years in 65 countries around the world, including Italy, with which the company boasts a collaboration of over 75 years. In the sphere of Corporate Social Responsibility, our commitment lies in supporting projects aimed at fostering the education of young people, also through the promotion of the importance of sustainability and environmental protection,” said Anna Clementina Veclani, Managing Director of Boeing for Southern Europe.“In this sense, we believe that supporting GEA EDU, a project so close to schools throughout Italy, means investing concretely in the new generations, training young talents, and spreading the culture of sustainability by creating real opportunities for the professional and civic development of students.
Unirima’s participation in the GEA Edu – In Classe project represents a concrete commitment to promoting the culture of circular economy among the new generations. The secondary raw materials production sector is a strategic pillar for the country’s ecological transition, but for it to develop fully, young people must understand its environmental, economic, and social value. Educating for sustainability means investing in the future, training aware citizens who are prepared to lead the change towards more responsible production and consumption models. With this initiative, we want to contribute to spreading knowledge and vision, so that the protection of resources becomes an integral part of tomorrow,” said Francesco Sicilia, General Director of Unirima.
“Correct and responsible use of digital tools does not only mean knowing how to use devices or applications, but becoming aware of the risks, opportunities, and ethical implications of every online action. Almaviva, a digital innovation group, is committed to promoting cultural awareness,” says Alessandro Mantelli, CTO of Almaviva. “Now that technology is an integral part of daily life, it is fundamental to know how to protect one’s own data, recognise fake news and scams, and respect the privacy of others”.
“The educational project “Long live the Constitution, the Constitution is alive” once again represents a precious opportunity to bring young people closer to the profound meaning of citizenship, and this year it does so by placing the accent on local institutions, the true gateways to democracy,” explains Elisa Lanciani, Head of Organisation, People & Culture at Bitron Group. “We strongly believe that dialogue with the territory represents a fundamental pillar for building shared value. Corporate social responsibility, for us, is not a slogan: it is the daily practice of sharing value, promoting participation, and investing in training to contribute to the development of communities.”
English version by the Translation Service of Withub
