Adult education: offering, admission, orientation

CPIA, Provincial Centres for Adult Education, as a territorial service network organised on three levels (administrative unit, didactic unit and training unit), offer adult education programmes for the attainment of qualifications and certifications, initiatives to extend the educational offering with the aim of integrating and enriching adult education programmes and/or favouring links with other education and training programmes, and research, experimentation and development activities in adult education to enhance the CPIA's role as a "service structure".

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Attainment of Titles and Certificates - First Level Education Programmes

First Level Programmes, carried out by the CPIA administrative units, in which literacy and Italian language learning courses also take place, are divided into two teaching periods: the first allows students to obtain the final qualification of the first cycle; the second allows them to obtain the certification attesting to the acquisition of basic skills associated with compulsory education, relating to the activities and general teaching common to all the courses of professional and technical institutes.

Attainment of Titles and Certificates - Second Level Education Programmes

Second Level Programmes, carried out by the CPIA teaching units, lead to a diploma in technical, professional and artistic education. They are subdivided into three teaching periods, which refer to the first two years, the second two years and the fifth year respectively, and correspond to the curricula of technical, professional and artistic institutes.

Attainment of qualifications and certifications - Programmes for literacy and Italian language learning

The Italian language learning and literacy courses, implemented by the CPIA administrative units, make it possible to obtain a qualification certifying the attainment of a level of knowledge of the Italian language no lower than level A2 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages, drawn up by the Council of Europe.

Reception and orientation activities for the Individual Training Pact

Adults enrolling in educational programmes are provided with admission and orientation activities. The aim of these activities is the definition of the individual training pact, which allows them to customise their training programme, through the recognition of skills acquired in formal, non-formal and informal contexts. The adult's participation in defining the Individual Training Pact in the initial admission and orientation phase is equivalent to attending part of the teaching period he/she has enrolled in, for a maximum total of 10% of the total number of hours of the same teaching period. Within these activities, further preparatory actions can be carried out to define the pact, with the aim of reinforcing and implementing it.

Distance Learning (FAD)

The adult education system also allows adults to remotely access part of the teaching period of the course requested at the time of enrolment, as a rule no more than 20% of the total number of hours of the teaching period.
FAD makes it possible to personalise the learning programme, access diversified materials and develop digital skills, enabling the reconciliation of personal/professional activities and study activities.

Initiatives to expand the educational offering

Initiatives to expand the educational offering - in line with the provisions of Article 9 of Presidential Decree 275 of 1999: and provided by the CPIA training units - consist of activities consistent with the CPIA's aims and take into account local cultural, social and economic needs. To this end CPIA promote integrated education and training projects, which require collaboration with other public and private training agencies, also by participating in regional, national or Community programmes. CPIA may:
  • enter into agreements with universities, regions and public bodies;
  • enter into contractual agreements with associations and private individuals;
  • participate in temporary associations with public and private agencies that undertake collaborations in synergy to implement specific training projects.

Research, Experimentation and Development activities (RS&S)

As an autonomous educational institution, the CPIA also carries out Research, Experimentation and Development activities (RS&S) regarding adult education, in order to:
  • develop the areas, referred to in Article 6 of Presidential Decree 275 of 1999: educational design and evaluative research; training and cultural and professional development of managers/administration; methodological and disciplinary innovation; educational research on the different values of information and communication technologies and their integration in educational processes; educational documentation and its dissemination within the school; exchanges of information, experiences and educational materials; integration between the various components of the school system and, in agreement with the relevant institutional bodies, between the various training systems, including professional training;
  • promote the role of the CPIA as a "service structure", through the provision - in line with the relevant European objectives - of the following "system measures": reading the training needs of the regions; constructing adult profiles defined on the basis of the needs of social and work contexts; interpreting the skills and knowledge needs of the adult population; admission and orientation; improving the quality and effectiveness of adult education;
  • set up system measures aimed at fostering appropriate links between the educational programmes carried out by the CPIA and those carried out by the educational institutions providing second-level programmes (defining criteria and procedures for the joint management of the functions assigned to the educational institutions by Article 14(2) of Presidential Decree No 275/99); drafting of the CPIA EOP, joint planning of first- and second-level programmes;
  • implement the lifelong learning system through actions aimed, where relevant, at implementing the national plan for guaranteeing the skills of the adult population, also with a view to developing lifelong learning networks.

Useful resources

Legal references