The University of Turin is offering refugees who lack proof of education the possibility to receive an 'academic passport' so that they can enrol at universities.
The University of Turin is offering student refugees arriving in Italy without documents to prove their studies the opportunity to get a European Qualifications Passport for Refugees, which assesses the educational level and linguistic skills and makes it possible to register at university. Some 36 people between age 20 and 30 from 14 different educational systems will have an interview in Turin this week to obtain the document.
Recognition process
Most of the students taking part in the interviews are from countries like Nigeria, Pakistan, Syria, Cameroon, Guinea, Afghanistan and Congo. They are interested in many different subjects, both three-year degrees and master's degrees.
The Council of Europe project, which began in Greece last year, is supported in Italy by the education ministry and the national center of information on the recognition of studies certificates, CIMEA.
Only 5% have not passed procedure in Europe
At the European level, so far 192 interviews out of 238 resulted in the recognition of the studies, said CIMEA deputy director Chiara Finocchietti, ''thus only 5% did not pass the procedure''. The University of Turin has been selected to carry out the interviews, which began on November 13.
''The project was financed thanks to voluntary contributions from Belgium, Norway and Italy, as well as with support from the Action Plan on Protecting Refugee and Migrant Children in Europe (2017-2019)",
said Samir Heco from the Council of Europe.