Italian schools face citizenship and student well-being challenges

Recent data highlights significant demographic and social challenges within the Italian school system. In the Lazio region, approximately 11% of students—nearly 85,000 out of 769,000 enrollees—do not hold Italian citizenship. In the province of Rome, this figure is slightly higher at 11.8%, affecting over 67,000 students. Nationally, non-Italian citizenship accounts for 11.6% of the student population, with roughly 65% of those students having been born in Italy.

Parallel findings from the Progetto Iride research, presented in Rome by Censis, reveal concerns regarding student well-being and guidance. The report indicates that 43.4% of students feel they lack sufficient information to make informed decisions about their futures. Furthermore, only 15.2% of students feel fully protected from bullying, cyberbullying, and discrimination, while many expressed a desire for more engaging educational environments and better support for academic evaluation.