Indian students opt for Italy to complete higher education

MORE STUDENTS ARE OPTING TO PURSUE TECHNOLOGICAL RESEARCH AND FASHION DESIGNING IN ITALY. WE LOOK AT WHY ITALY IS CONSIDERED ONE OF THE HOTSPOT STUDY DESTINATIONS OF YOUNGSTERS TODAY 2007 HAS BEEN DECLARED AS THE YEAR OF ITALY BY INDIA, AND THERE ARE PROSPECTS OF EXCHANGE PROGRAMMES OPENING UP BETWEEN MANAGEMENT INSTITUTIONS LIKE THE IIMS..

In the last couple of years, Italy has become one of the most sought after study destinations by Indian students. Italy ranks as one of the eight most industralised countries in the world and promises much more than internationally recognised education, along with opportunities to study Italian and experience one of the fashion capitals of the world. Some of the oldest universities in Italy have alumni who were pioneers in the fields of medicine and architecture. For example, University of Bologna had names such as Dante Aligheri and Nicolaus Copernicus, studying at the university while the University of Pisa had noted physicist and astronomer, Galileo, amongst Nobel Prize winners as its alumni.

From 2003 onwards, there has been a surge in the number of scholarships being offered to Indian students by various universities in Italy. Srividya, visual manager of Indo-Italian Chamber of Commerce says that 25 scholarships were offered for post-graduate studies in software engineering and research in wireless technology, along with four month internships with companies like Marconi, a telecommunications company now under Ericsson.

Besides being leaders in the fields of technology and science, Srividya says, “Milan is one of the fashion capitals of the world. We have had a number of NIFT graduates who have gone abroad to study fashion in Italy, because they wanted to broaden their horizon and study in a country that is at the forefront of fashion.” These students have returned to India and have been absorbed by fashion houses here. The University of Milan and Istituto Marangoni offers scholarships covering tuition fees to fashion designing students. The latter in fact is already at the Indo-Italian Chamber looking to recruit students for their university.

The employment opportunities for Indians who have completed their higher studies in Italy are many, however about the lack of records of Indians who have studied in Italy, she says, “We have no record of students who have continued to live and work in Italy or of students who have returned, since we only started promoting education in Italy in a big way only this year. We were overwhelmed ourselves by the response we got, but with a road-show later this year, we hope to have alumni and scholarship winners who will be speaking about their experience in Italy.” In fact, 2007 has been declared as the Year of Italy by India, and there are prospects of exchange programmes opening up between management institutions like the IIMs. But what is the cost of education in Italy? Domestic expenses can amount up to 1,000 Euros a month, inclusive of housing, which is not much, but will vary depending on one’s lifestyle. But one does have the opportunity to work part-time, within the university and outside.