Apprenticeship as a lever for economic development when the Covid emergency is over. Keep in mind this idea that Metropolitan City has put in place a series of initiatives to promote apprenticeships and skills for local economic development and digital transition. Initiatives presented to some municipalities in the metropolitan area of Rome during the live discussion on 18 March.
There are three lines of action for a lifelong learning process initiated by the Metropolitan City of Rome:
- Si, vale, the program that aims to involve companies, institutions and training centers to spread the use of training apprenticeship
- the Network of Cities for Apprenticeships
- the creation of local Skills Pacts, joining the new Skills Pact initiative launched by the European Commission.
The live discussion was attended by: Rosanna Capone, (Director of Professional Training of the Metropolitan City of Rome), Giuseppe Mario Tallarico (Coordination of the Training Services of the Metropolitan City of Rome), Antonella Federici (Municipality of Subiaco), Armando Caponegro (Councillor of the Municipality of Guidonia), Pamela Iantaffi (Municipality of Pomezia), Claudia Ferrazzi (Municipality of Tivoli) and Maria Fabiani (Capitale Lavoro).
"Apprenticeship is one of the levers that will allow the territories to reactivate economic development when the Covid emergency is over", underlined Metropolitan City of Rome, illustrating the outcome of the survey submitted to the municipalities, from whose analysis it emerged how much the collaborative relationship between the subjects present in the territory is fundamental for the proper functioning of the system.
Antonella Federici of the Municipality of Subiaco raised the problem of the lack of good training schools in the territory of the Aniene Valley, which is why there is much resistance among companies to active apprenticeships. A problem that can be overcome, according to the Metropolitan City of Rome, with the implementation of the new e-learning platform recently adopted.
The same issue was also at the center of the intervention of the Coordination of Training Services of the Metropolitan City: "The Dual System does not ask the company to train, but supports the company in the planning of the student's path. No money is promised or guaranteed, but there are coverages in terms of contractual benefits that vary around 5-6 thousand euros a year, plus many other benefits. The tool makes the company a place of training. So the training institution can also be placed at a distance from the company ".
A positive experience is that of Tivoli Forma which has managed to involve many companies in the area in which it operates. The first-level apprenticeship, in fact, thanks to the tax relief and the possibility of renewal for a further year, represents an extremely low investment for the employer.
The topic of apprenticeships will be central in the coming years at a European level. For this reason, the Metropolitan City of Rome Capital wants to bring together people in the area who organize innovative projects, to field an experience to be brought to the European level as a good practice. The goal of the Network for Apprenticeship Cities is to put in contact realities that are contiguous but which for different reasons have difficulty communicating. The Metropolitan City has the potential to network the various training agencies, creating poles of excellence.
In conclusion, the Metropolitan City of Rome invited the municipalities to monitor the territory to understand if there are already experiences or contacts with companies to turn to set up pilot projects, and at the same time to implement real system actions.