Italy/Gender equality: Italian students aged 13-14 most sensitive to the subject

They are also more attentive to rights between immigrant and non-immigrant groups, to the environment, and are more aware of the importance of democracy, even if they are critical of the political system.

Attentive to the rights of immigrants, to the environment and aware of the importance of democracy, even if critical of the political system. This is the picture that emerges from the IEA ICCS (International Civic and Citizenship Education Study) of Italian 13-14 year-olds, the largest international study ever carried out on civic and citizenship education. 224 schools, 2,400 teachers and around 4,900 students took part.

In fact, 83% of Italian students - compared to 74% internationally - agreed that democracy "remains the best form of government for their country". What's more, Italian students say they are more likely to take part in elections in the future than the international average, although their results are down on previous cycles.

Students were asked to indicate the extent to which they trust certain groups and institutions, such as the national government, parliament, the mainstream media and the courts. In Italy, trust in the traditional media (-15%) and parliament (-13%) has fallen by more than 10 percentage points compared to the past. The expected political participation of Italian students is above the international average and constant compared to 2016.

Thirteen- and fourteen-year-old Italian students also appear to be more open-minded about immigration than their foreign peers. For them, in fact, "the children of immigrants should have the same educational opportunities as other children", "immigrants should have the same rights as other people in the country, they should have the opportunity to preserve their own habits and customs". Finally, they believe that "immigrants who have lived in a country for several years should have the opportunity to vote in elections" also because "they bring many cultural, economic and social benefits".

In general, the research reveals that, both in Italy and abroad, where family socio-economic status is higherstudents demonstrated, on average, higher levels of civic knowledge than students of lower socio-economic status. The number of books in the home and the parents' occupation also had a significant impact, but the parents' level of education had a lesser impact.

Source: www.rainews.it/