MILAN (ITALPRESS) – Peses, the Educational Programme for Economic and Social Sciences of the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart dedicated to the students and students of the high schools, is about to conclude the third year of life and reaches an important milestone: the first 400 lessons in secondary schools of second degree, involving as speakers personalities of the economic, legal, political, scientific and entrepreneurial panorama of the Country throughout the national territory, i.e covering all the Italian Regions. “Having reached 400 lessons, it means having met about 50,000 students, not a small number,” comments Carlo Cottarelli, professor of the Faculty of Banking, Financial and Insurance Sciences and director of the Observatory on Italian Public Accounts of the Catholic University, who designed and directed the Peses program. “The budget is great, there is great interest in this project by schools throughout Italy. So much so we can’t cover all the questions that come, so let’s give priority to schools that were not selected the previous year.” “The goal is to maintain a very high level of personality involved in the program,” adds Cottarelli. “This year’s news includes the presence of physics Fabiola Gianotti, former general manager of Cern in Geneva and first woman to guide him. With her, economists, jurists, politicians, Peses adds a new profile: that of scientists. But we also focus on the great entrepreneurs, such as Marco Tronchetti Provera, Luca Cordero di Montezemolo, Carlo Bonomi. They are people who struggle to find time, and we are very pleased that they can do it for our program.”.
“The strength of Peses is dialogue with students,” Professor Cottarelli continues. “This is not a simple visit to schools, but a direct contact between the student and the personality that is a guest. Each protagonist of the meeting, then, moulds it to his liking. Beppe Severgnini, for example, likes to ask a ping pong of questions and answers with students, I prefer to receive all the questions and then to deepen on the topics that interest more to those I have in front of”. “The other thing we have noticed is the appreciation of the teachers – continues Cottarelli –. We firmly believe that this program is useful to students and students, but it also serves to give confidence to their teachers. Because, in the end, seeing Mario Draghi entering a school in Terni also gives confidence to the teachers of that school. And in fact the messages we receive from the schools as a result of the meetings make us very pleased”. “What we are interested in is the contact between students and someone who has had an important experience – says Cottarelli –. Because the goal is not to cover a certain area, either the economy or the right. This programme first serves to inspire young people. And he does so by insisting on the need for dialogue with them. This year in the lessons that I hold I talk about globalization and potential geopolitical risks related to it, starting from the first chapter of my last book “Easy Economy. Simple answers to understand the world” (Solferino, 2026). I like to talk about things of great relevance, I noticed more spontaneity among students. So their questions are less prepared, almost always generated by current and very interesting themes.”
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– photo press office Catholic University of the Sacred Heart –
(ITALPRESS).
