Balanced approach needed for international students in Italy, says Ex-education minister

Professor Francesco Profumo, former education minister of Italy said that the country must have a balanced approach for international students.

While speaking with a panel at the NAFSA conference 2024, Italy’s former education minister urged the delegates to go for a unified and balanced approach to attract foreign students. The panel was about the economic impact of foreign students and graduates on host countries.

Professor Francesco Profumo told the delegates, “We need a kind of balance; we need more educated students, but in the meantime, we don’t have to be too jealous. Europe needs to establish a standard model to really understand what we can do to attract more students while also giving them positive feedback to go back to their home countries because improving the quality of life there is the best investment they can give," as reported by The Pie News.

He explained that out of around 800,000 children who were born in Italy in 2004, nearly 500,000 graduated from Italian secondary school last year. Out of them, 300,000 will register at university in Italy and 60% will be graduates.

Italy is second country with oldest population

The reduced domestic student population is also due to the country's declining birth rate. After Japan, Italy is the second country that has the oldest population.

In a contrasting situation when countries like Australia, Canada, Netherlands and the UK are trying to curb the migration of international students, Italy is becoming increasingly welcoming for international students.

The Ex-minister said that the country should revamp its universities to modernize it and make the most of the international students who choose to study in Italy.

“There are many contradictions in the attraction of international students and the promotion of higher education institutions is nowadays related to the demographic decline and the constant growth of the shortage of highly qualified personnel. It’s an essential goal for Italy and Europe and we must now focus on enabling these new generations to constantly upskill and reskill, also in their countries, thus being always ready for the new and changing demands of the labour market,” said the Former Minister.

In Italy universities admission process are different for students coming from Euraopean Union countries and coming from other parts of the world. Aspiring students need to research well about the admission process and eligibility criteria while planning to study in Italy.

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