Financial compass

According to the latest OECD PISA Report, almost one in five students in Italy does not reach the minimum level of financial literacy, a figure accompanied by profound gaps in gender and socio-economic circumstances. At vocational institutions in particular, half of the students show significant gaps in their understanding of the basic concepts related to money, savings and financial management. 

Fondazione Cariplo intends to utilise Financial Compass to respond to these issues, by supporting vocational institutions in the introduction of financial education, as required by the recent Law no. 21/2024 (“Capital Law”) and by the Guidelines for the cross-sectoral teaching of civic education (Ministerial Decree no. 183/2024). 

The project objectives are as follows:  

  • to boost levels of financial education among students at the five vocational institutions involved 
  • to evaluate the effectiveness of the project and its effects on students’ knowledge and skills, to identify replicable tools and disseminate best practice 
  • to contribute to launching financial education in schools more effectively and, in general, to developing financial education in Italy.

In hypotheses the most coherent methods of intervention, Fondazione Cariplo worked in conjunction with experienced partners in the field of scholastic financial education: eQwa Social Enterprise, Foundation for Financial Education and Evaluation Lab of the Giordano dell’Amore Social Venture Foundation. 

The project envisages: 

  • the development and opening of laboratories, educational activities and innovative training courses to make learning concrete, engaging and measurable 
  • evaluation of the effectiveness of the project and its effects on students’ knowledge and skills, to identify replicable tools and disseminate best practice. 

1,600 hours of training are planned for the 2025-2026 and 2026-2027 academic years, during which more than 2,000 students from 36 vocational institutions in 12 provinces in the area in question will be involved, with a total of 360 hours of analysis and measurement of the students’ economic and financial skills as part of the project.