AI-ENTR4YOUTH at ITST Enrico Fermi — AI Prototyping in Puglia's Vocational Classrooms

AI-ENTR4YOUTH is a three-year (2023–2026) entrepreneurship-education programme coordinated by JA Europe, co-funded by the EU's Erasmus+ programme and supported by Intel, that embeds a 52-hour hands-on AI curriculum into secondary and vocational classrooms. Students move from identifying a real-world problem to building a working AI prototype, testing it and pitching it as a business idea, covering data literacy, AI ethics, Python programming, computer vision and no-code AI tools. Piloted in Italy, Portugal and Spain, the programme has expanded to Albania, Bulgaria, Czechia, France, Greece, Romania and Ukraine, reaching an estimated 12,000 students across the ten countries, with a stated target of 30,000 by 2026.

At ITST Enrico Fermi, a state vocational-technical institute in Francavilla Fontana (Puglia), more than 100 students and over 10 teachers took part, working with Intel AI expert Walter Riviera and collaborating with the University of Salento. Teachers reported that the hands-on format "fully engaged" students who could "witness AI mechanisms in action," and the school's participation led to further joint work with the university on European projects.

Public reporting to date documents reach (enrolment, country count) and qualitative teacher testimony rather than standardised learning-outcome measurement — no independent pre/post skills assessment or employment tracking has been published.

Read the full analysis: https://jaeurope.org/ai-entr4youth-bringing-artificial-intelligence-into-classrooms-with-an-innovative-training-program/