“The RECAPP CAL project presented in the regional Citadel, aimed at strengthening the basic skills of Calabrian students and reducing the scholastic learning gaps between Calabria and the rest of Italy, has met with great success and interest in the school and university landscape. Our Region confirms itself, once again, as an educational-methodological laboratory of experimentation and innovation for the benefit of the overall development of the regional territory”. This was stated by the Calabrian MEP Giusi Princi, who already in his role as vice-president, with the President of the Calabria Region Roberto Occhiuto, had conceived the project which he continues to follow as a member of the technical-scientific committee.
Promoted by the Calabria Region, it involves, as partners, the Regional School Office of Calabria (USR), the Calabrian University System (Unical, Magna Graecia and Mediterranea), the Bocconi University and the Institute.
“RECAPP CAL – he explains – is the first experimental project in Italy which, involving such important partners, aims to raise the quality of Calabrian schools by solving the age-old problem of Invalsi results”.
Financed by the Education Department of the Calabria Region with approximately 6 million euros, it will be developed in the 2025-2026 and 2026-2027 school years and, in the event of positive results, it will be adopted, in agreement with Invalsi, as a national prototype to be replicated in those regions characterized by gaps in student learning levels compared to the national standard.
“It is – states Giusi Princi – a concrete path to reduce and combat the phenomenon of school dropout and to compensate for cultural, economic and social disadvantages by promoting an effective territorial rebalancing”.
140 first and second level Calabrian institutes are involved in the RECAPP CAL project, selected by Invalsi and Bocconi University on the basis of the results of the last year’s Invalsi tests available.
The project includes 200 hours of strengthening in Italian and mathematics. The recovery, strengthening and raising of the students’ skills will be carried out through training interventions provided by the Italian and mathematics teachers of the selected classes.
At the same time, a “training of trainers” action will be implemented by the Calabrian universities. In particular, teacher training will focus on pedagogical, didactic and disciplinary methodological aspects to encourage the construction of shared paths and the possible revisiting of the teaching method. Training, therefore, personalized to the needs of each class group and teachers and accompanied by peer tutoring actions.
Finally, the results will be monitored through tests administered periodically to the students involved. The data, collected on a specific project platform, will then be evaluated by the research group in order to verify the effectiveness of the interventions and any remodulation.
During the presentation, all the partners expressed strong appreciation for the initiative and the collaboration model built. “It is a source of pride for me – concludes the Hon. Giusi Princi – that all the subjects involved have recognized the value of the project, highlighting the need to continue with determination in strengthening basic skills, an essential condition for raising the educational level of Calabria. It is a Region in which President Occhiuto’s direction continues to be that of considering education the most important driving force for development and social growth. An objective which is fully connected – states the MEP – to European cohesion policy. I will undertake to bring to Brussels this important good practice which makes Calabria an important model of cultural emancipation”, concludes Giusi Princi.