Italian schools around the world, a vehicle for growth and dialogue

Italian education in the world as a tool to promote our identity, to help the children of emigration and the youth of local communities build a future for themselves, and to relaunch messages of dialogue and peace. These are the objectives of the Farnesina's cultural diplomacy, which for the first time has brought together in Rome the Italian schools abroad - 7 state schools and 47 paritarian schools - to share good practices and relaunch this strategy. With the Maxxi museum in Rome acting as host. "We have about 70-80 million children of descendants of our migrants, and this in itself spreads the Italian language all over the world, from Africa to Latin America and Australia. And diplomacy deals with this, because first and foremost it has the duty to provide a service to citizens living abroad and those who may become citizens,' explained Deputy Foreign Minister Edmondo Cirielli in his opening speech. Then there is the aspect of economic diplomacy: as an exporting country, 'maintaining a cultural link between Italy and the rest of the world is also a way to promote the spread of our products and to encourage tourism in our country,' he added. Connected to this aspect, Cirielli then recalled that we are a country 'that needs immigration. And if someone prepares in our schools they can later come and work in Italy with training, in a legal circuit'.

Lastly, looking at the macro-scenarios, the deputy minister emphasised that 'thanks to the love that exists all over the world for our culture, we have the unique opportunity to bring words of peace, solidarity and friendship even in this time of great turbulence'. For all these reasons, 'the government is looking very carefully at the Italian education system in the world,' explained Education Undersecretary Paola Frassinetti, recalling a number of reforms that have been promoted that 'fit well in this direction'. For example, "the upgrading of technical and professional institutes" and the creation of the "Made in Italy high school". All places that can accelerate the 'school-to-work transition by providing outlets in key sectors' that drive our economy, he stressed. Italian schools abroad (the first experiment dates back to the Unification of Italy with the college in Alexandria, Egypt) are also registering growing interest among local communities.
"It is a trend that we want to encourage," assured the director general for public and cultural diplomacy at the Farnesina, Alessandro De Pedys, reporting that there are scholarship programmes to ensure that schooling abroad can continue at Italian universities. And our institutes abroad, confirmed Deputy Director Filippo La Rosa, are a 'great accelerator of interest in Italy'. Because 'you attend school every day, there is nothing that binds you more to a country'.

A number of discussion panels were proposed at the Maxxi, ranging from tools for enhancing training to job prospects after graduation. The need to network among schools was also relaunched, in order to make the most of this heritage. The Dante Alighieri is the leader of this project: its secretary general, Alessandro Masi, presented the Adasim project at the Maxxi conference, a foundation that brings together 50 schools around the world. The aim is ambitious: to share high-profile experiences in the teaching of and in Italian, to promote professional updating and to face the challenges of education together, elaborating and grounding new projects. For Masi, this is a 'strategic asset of our cultural diplomacy'.