Closing event with Roman schools at the Campidoglio
The Protomoteca Hall at the Campidoglio hosted the closing event of “F.S.L. – School-Work Training” for the 2025–2026 academic year. The initiative, organised by the Department of Education, Employment and Vocational Training (Directorate of Education and Employment) of Roma Capitale, showcased the projects and activities of students from the city’s upper secondary schools.
The event, moderated by official Franco Giampalmo, highlighted the success of a now well-established programme. “This is a programme that forms part of the ‘educating city’ initiative, which is now in its 10th year,” explained Giampalmo, emphasising the growing participation which has exceeded a thousand students, “today we are finally here in person with 11 schools here with us, and others are joining remotely”. Valentina Grafone, from the Training and Employment Department, welcomed the participants and described the five programmes that have characterised the training provision, involving 17 participating schools. The programmes ranged from career guidance and business start-up workshops run by the Centri di Orientamento al Lavoro (C.O.L.), to sessions on Artificial Intelligence and Cybersecurity by Coding Girls & Women of the Fondazione Mondo Digitale, right through to topics central to the Civil Protection Agency’s work, such as workplace and road safety with INAIL.
During the official addresses, Erica Battaglia (Chair of the Labour Committee) analysed the employment situation: "We are here because, although the youth unemployment rate in Rome is falling, the figures remain worrying, standing at between 18 and 19 per cent. One in five young people struggles to find work and risks ending up in the NEET group, risking a sense of mistrust towards the future.‘ Battaglia highlighted how Municipal Districts IV, V and VII have the most critical figures on unemployment and early school leaving, but offered a message of hope: ’The city’s economy is growing faster than the national average, with almost 2,500 organisations having opened offices in Rome in recent years. Rome City Council’s role is to foster moments like this; the C.O.L.s are committed to creating opportunities to tell you young people that you are, and must remain, key players and first-class citizens.”
Carla Consuelo Fermariello (Chair of the Rome City Council Education Committee) emphasised the value of the new generation: ‘Youth employment is all too often a neglected issue, but for our Department it is essential to provide young people with the tools to be ready for the future. Enough of speaking ill of young people: we must not belittle them, but recognise their commitment to crucial issues such as mental health, peace and the environment. Valuing our young people means empowering them.’ Fermariello also drew attention to the importance of not forgetting young people with disabilities, to ensure true inclusion in the education and employment systems.
Among the teams present in the hall was “Icaro” from the Pacinotti Archimede Institute, fresh from its success at the RomeCup, where it triumphed in the Soccer Junior and Lightweight categories at the final awards ceremony on 29 April.
The day continued with first-hand accounts of the students’ experiences and presentations by partner representatives, reaffirming Roma Capitale’s commitment to building concrete bridges between the worlds of education and work.
Marta Pietrelli, representing the Fondazione Mondo Digitale, introduced the projects presented for Coding Girls & Women. Overall, the following schools took part: Liceo Artistico Argan, LLS Leon Battista Alberti, Liceo Classico Virgilio, Liceo Scientifico Plinio Seniore, IIS Carlo Matteucci and IIT Bottardi. Two schools attended in person, whilst the others followed remotely. In her project, student Irene Consoli, 3 F from Plinio Seniore, imagined a cyberattack on a clinic, hypothesising the causes and proposing a communication strategy to address the public impact of the damage. Valerio Littera, 5D at Alberti, together with his team, hypothesised a scenario involving a healthcare company that suffered a leak of 15,000 pieces of sensitive data from a networked digital stethoscope. Valerio pointed out that the amount of data stolen could have risen significantly if the attack had targeted a large Roman hospital, highlighting how essential both prevention and systematic monitoring are to mitigate the risk of cyber attacks.
The day concluded with closing remarks from the Director of the Department of Education, Employment and Vocational Training, Andrea Vecchia.
