ROME: In Italy, Asia is the new America: moving in to cash in on the near-saturation of the U.S. and U.K. educational markets, Italian higher educational institutions are promising a "barrier-free" study environment for Asian engineering students, especially from China and India. The marked shift in preference for Asian students is perhaps the best indicator that this country, with some of the oldest known universities in the world, is gearing up for a complete internationalisation of its education.

For Indian students, the initiatives are already in place: promotional and marketing campaigns in major Indian cities, a sizeable increase in the numbers of international faculties in all major universities, a phased switch-over to English as a medium of instruction and exclusive scholarships for Indian students.

A three-pronged, India-specific strategy — "Invest your talent in Italy" — involving the government, the chambers of commerce and universities, is now in its second year of operation and will be launched in India this month.

The reasoning behind the strategy is that as more employers these days show a distinct preference for Indian students — especially in the automotive and manufacturing sectors — educational institutions should be able to deliver accordingly.

"The idea is to promote Italy as an ideal education institution. We aim to put together Italian companies with the best human resources in India through the university system,'' Laddaga Michele, ICE-Italian Trade Promotion Department told journalists flown in by the Indo-Italian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

"While the government and the universities together contribute to scholarships for students, in some cases, even tuition fees have been brought down.''

"The intention is to help small Italian businesses that have an interest in India pick up the right human resources. We find the educational capabilities of Indian students to be above par,'' says Patrizia Giarratana, head of Asia and Oceania Division, Ministry of International Trade. Indian students are much preferred in branches such as industrial design, information and communication technology and management. "They can not only be excellent researchers, but also invaluable resources as Italian companies approach and establish themselves in the Indian and other markets. `Invest your talent in Italy' targets talented post-graduate Indian students and offers them training in prestigious Italian academic institutions and an internship period with placement," says Sergio Sgambato, secretary-general, Indo-Italian Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Seven Italian institutions — Milano Politecnico and University of Bocconi from Milan; Scuolo Superiore Sant' Anna from Pisa; University of Trento; Universita Degli Studi Di Genova; Politecnico Torino in Turin and Luiss University in Rome — are participating in this year's edition.

Indian students

According to Fabio Pizzino, Union Chamber of Commerce, last year's programme attracted 50 Indian students. More institutions are expected to sign up this year.

Hyderabad-born Pasupuleti Srinivas, pursuing his doctorate in computer science at the University of Trento, has his own take on being an Indian student in Italy: "Institutions here find Indian students hardworking and enterprising. Getting by without knowing Italian can be quite a problem, but with countries like the USA tightening up research funding, this seems to be a workable option."

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