Higher non-academic technical education in Italy: ITS Academy

Italy’s higher education system is composed, almost exclusively, by academic and university-based training paths. Is it possible to successfully combine theory and practice in higher education? Can a parallel system of non-academic tertiary education be established alongside the traditional university system? These are some of the challenges that face the Italian ITS (Istituti Tecnici Superiori - Higher Technical Institutes), which were established in 2010 and represent the Italian system’s pathway for non-academic Higher Vocational Education and Training (HVET). ITS courses, based on the pedagogical principle of work-based learning, provide an innovative experience of higher education that combines theory and practice in a complete development of the person, leading to excellent employment prospects. The aim of this paper is to present Italy’s higher non-academic technical education system, starting from a pedagogical rediscovery of the educational value of work and including an analysis of the ITS Academy system, which has recently been reformed and relaunched.