Dropout is defined as the total number of students either leaving school early or having to repeat years. Dropout levels are currently unacceptable and constitute a major social and individual cost. In Tuscany, restricting the phenomenon to early school leaving alone, the percentage is between 17.6% and 18.6% as against an EU average of 12.8%.
In Tuscany the number of students dropping out of school every year is between 72,000 and 80,000. This is equivalent to 2% of the entire population of the Region across all age brackets. Young people qualified as NEET – Not in Education, Employment or Training – cost the State 70 billion euro a year, amounting to 4% of the GDP. Early school leaving impacts employment opportunities, income levels and health.
ORIENTADROPOUT is an innovative project for remediation, integration and the development of skills that has been conceived by the Ente Cassa di Risparmio di Firenze in liaison with two educational agencies, the Universities of Perugia and Arezzo, the Ministry of Education and two associations working in the educational field.