Leisure Time Use and the Third Sector’s Role in Combating Educational Poverty of Minors with a Migratory Background

Due to the insights provided by various studies and a legislative trajectory that was, in part, influenced by the ad- vocacy initiatives of the Third Sector (Save the Children, 2014), the issue of educational poverty has gained promi- nence in recent scientific and political discussions. It is now integrated into public policy agendas, calling for a comprehensive, multi-level analysis to underscore its unique complexity. Educational poverty is a concept with broad semantic boundaries, characterized by polysemy and multidimension- ality (Agasisti et al., 2021; Battilocchi, 2020; Botezat, 2016). It exhibits a poly-prospective nature and takes on diverse forms whenever educational circumstances impede individual growth, thereby constraining the expansion of perspectives, opportunities, and the range of accessible experiences (Sottocorno, 2019). This contribution addresses the issue of educational poverty among minors with a migratory background, with a particular focus on the use of leisure time and the role of the Third Sector in promoting inclusive educational prac- tices. Through a quantitative approach, as a part of a broader research, a self-administered semi-structured question- naire hab been given to a statistically representative sample of 1761 students enrolled in the third year of lower secondary school in the academic year 2021/2022 in the municipality of Rome. The results reveal a statistically significant association between migratory background and engagement in certain educational or social activities during leisure time, mainly due to the characteristics of the territory of residence. Therefore, on the one hand there is a need to counteract ecological poverty by promoting the expansion of coverage and access to educational facilities. On the other hand, the importance of promoting the empowering function of the territory and a pedagogical responsibility extended to the entire community is emphasized (Curti et al., 2020), recalling the importance of the Frabbonian concept of “integrated educational system” (Frabboni, 1989; Maia, 2018). In this context, the central role of the Third Sector emerges, whose active participation underscores the importance of a collaborative and synergistic approach to address this challenge, highlighting how combating educational poverty requires the joint and coordinated commitment of all stakeholders involved.