Italian welcome for Indian students

IN ITALY, not all roads lead to Rome, at least not for Indian students. With even provinces such as Trentino and Genova playing host to educational institutions of considerable merit, the country is hoping to give the U.S., U.K. and countries Down Under competition in attracting Indian students. Helping them is a joint initiative by the Government, the chambers of commerce and business houses. Come November, there will be a full-fledged educational roadshow in major Indian cities.
The author visited a few Italian institutions to report on what is on offer for Indian students: It was an unusual pursuit that took Sanjay Deodar all the way from his social volunteering work in Bangalore to Milan's Bocconi University. Carrying over the experience gained from working for tsunami victims, he is now pursuing a master's programme in International Health that he hopes will give him a "European education in a much less competitive atmosphere than one would find in other Western countries."
Like him, Pasupuleti Srinivas from Hyderabad found himself in the picturesque Dolomite mountain-fringed University of Trento, through a generous initiative from the Italian university that offered him a doctoral scholarship in computer science when he had gone there for a six-month internship as part of his M.Tech degree at IIIT, Bangalore. A few years ago, it may not have been possible to spot too many like them on Italian campuses.
Now, thanks to some serious thinking on the part of the Government — and aided by the demands on quality human material made by Italian businesses — every campus has at least a handful of students from India. Internationalisation is the buzzword on Italian campuses.
Cost hardly seems to be a deterrent: Srinivas, for example, spends less than 500 euros a month on rent and food. Says Andrea Sironi, dean for international affairs, Universita Commerciale Luigi Bocconi, ``There is a heightened awareness about India and China among our corporate partners. They ask us to look for Italian students who have exposure to these countries and vice-versa, due to the high intellectual capital available."
According to Sergio Sgambato, secretary general, Indo-Italian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, "There is a great demand for Indian students to be employed by the Italian companies because of the young talented engineers who would contribute in enhancing Italian trade ties with India.''
To this effect, Italian institutions are removing all stops: from introducing English as a medium of instruction, getting more international faculty members on their rolls and offering more scholarships and lower tuition fees to foreign students.

Source: Hindu