The permanent lifelong learning center at the University of Bari (CAP UniBa), in the south-eastern Italian region of Puglia, has reached one of its key objectives after it was awarded a certificate quantifying the positive attention it granted to refugee students.

Geographically exposed to migration in the Mediterranean, the lifelong learning center (CAP) at the Apulian college is the first in Italy to have obtained the world certificate 'Problem Management Plus' (PM+) for the training of so-called 'helpers' who support students who have migrated from other countries.

This certification was developed by the World Health Organization (WHO), promoted by the UN Refugee Agency UNHCR and granted by the Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS).

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Technical-administrative personnel first recipient

"The CAP is a project welcomed within national academia but developed in a structural manner only in Bari", Antonella Scalera told the Italian news agency ANSA.

"Professor Fausta Scardigno, who chairs the project and is also president of the network of Italian universities for permanent learning, is working to integrate it in all universities".

Scalera herself is a validation and certifications expert at the CAP UniBa and an expert trainer in PM+ for the English language course. In conjunction with other psychologists who come from various different countries.

"Due to our geographical position, we have been registering more and more students who arrive in Bari via university corridors. We have long been collaborating with UNHCR and we promote student integration projects for refugees. The PM+ certification has allowed us to begin fruitful exchanges with other institutions and really learn from their and our practical experience," Scalera told ANSA.

Scalera explained that the certification will first of all concern the technical and administrative personnel, because it was those departments that initially faced the greatest difficulties integrating students with a migration background.

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Misunderstanding and frustration

"There is often the problem of misunderstandings due to language barriers and thus frustration, anxiety, a sense of powerlessness and demotivation after [students fail to get answers] during the initial orientation [phase]", she noted.

This is why training will focus on a "program to solve practical problems like validating an exam, recognizing university training credits -- a series of activities that can be solved with a few techniques", Scalera added.

For the lifelong learning center, the PM+ certification brings added value: "We have reactivated programs that were interrupted. We meet students who are far from their families, thus we also see depression caused by the lack of social interactions. Our objective is to train all our personnel."

CAP UniBa is self-funded via the department of research and innovation in humanities. The most popular courses for refugees enrolled at the university are "languages, philosophy, literature, as well as political sciences and computer science." Scalera said they had discovered many Afghan refugees enrolled on their program had real talents in the fields of computer science.

During the training, those on the course were encouraged to present real-life practical cases to try and solve. One young Afghan refugee, who had been a women's rights activitist in Afghanistan before being forced to flee was able to find housing as part of the integration process, explained Scalera. Over the course of five sessions, the young woman found some accommodation which really enhanced her experience of integration.