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The Scientific Commission

The Scientific Commission

In 2023, Istat established an inter-institutional Scientific Commission on educational poverty, chaired by Professor Monica Pratesi, which involved numerous experts from academia, institutions, and civil society. To date, the Commission has analysed international and national literature, identified existing information sources within the National Statistical System, proposed a definition of educational poverty and a measurement framework, and is working on identifying a broad set of multi-source indicators, which can be calculated using the databases available within the National Statistical System or, in the future, by using new sources or ad hoc surveys.

By January 2026, the Commission must finalise a definitive set of indicators and a complete list of unmet information needs. Furthermore, the Commission is exploring methods and processes to synthesise information with composite indicators and provide a territorial mapping, with the aim of defining priority areas towards which to direct investments and interventions.

Delibera 344 del 20 marzo 2023 – establishment of the Commission
Delibera 1317 del 22 novembre 2023 – integration of the Commission
Delibera 236 del 4 marzo 2024 – extension of the Commission’s activities deadline
Delibera 10 del 7 gennaio 2025 – reconstitution of the Commission

The Goals

In the first two years of work, which concluded in December 2024, the Scientific Commission had the following goals:

Define educational poverty as a multidimensional phenomenon;
Conduct a survey on the phenomenon of educational poverty at an international level (tested primary survey methodologies and policies);
Identify existing information sources in Italy and pinpoint elementary indicators within socio-demographic and territorial analysis domains, including at sub-provincial and sub-municipal levels;
Experiment with methods and processes for measuring the phenomenon through the use of composite indices, developing an integrated and original methodology for measuring educational poverty at regional and territorial levels;
To map the territory based on selected indicators in order to define priority areas on which to focus investments and interventions.

In January 2025, Istat re-established the Scientific Commission. In continuity with the results achieved so far, further goals have been identified:

To improve the quantitative representation of the conceptual framework, including indicators on digital skills and foreign children;
To deepen the topic of relative educational poverty thresholds;
To study the use of additional territorial levels of analysis compared to those already used;
To propose an operational definition of educational poverty.

The members of the Scientific Commission

The inter-institutional Scientific Commission on educational poverty is composed of over 50 members selected from Istat experts, academics, and representatives of bodies and organisations. Specifically, these are the institutions involved, in addition to Istat:

Educational poverty

The Scientific Commission

The Goals

The members of the Scientific Commission