Italy recasts life in public sector

Italy's civil service ministry is to compete with the private sector and the judiciary to recruit the best-qualified graduates from the country's universities.

Franco Frattini, the civil service minister, and Luciano Modica, rector of Siena University and president of the University Rectors' Conference, have signed an agreement to raise the profile of the civil service. Mr Frattini said: "The public administration wants to recruit the best graduates. If we do not, we will always be a step behind."

The ministry is calling for degree courses tailored to employment in public administration, for internships in civil service agencies for undergraduate and graduate students and for a campaign of information on job opportunities in the public sector.

According to an official communiqué: "It is essential to implement the reform of state administration and create highly qualified managers in the state sector." The universities undertake to "promote interaction through common projects", it says.

Flaminia Saccà, a sociology lecturer at Cassino University, believes this undertaking tackles a real need in Italian society. "Fifty years ago a career in the civil service was seen as something noble and highly respectable," she said. "Today it is perceived by most people as a career for those without the qualifications, ambition or imagination to find anything better to do, a dead end without incentives that has security as its only virtue. Italy's public administration is crying out for brilliant, dynamic and imaginative young recruits."