If there's one thing that throws Italian-Canadian parents into a fit of despair, it's having a child decide to study something sophisticated like, say, Aramaic. Mom and Dad worry because they say that nobody will one day hire their child to run a company based on a thorough knowledge of the dialect Jesus spoke.
In order to work as a manager, live in a nice house, with a nice Italian spouse and two children, the major of choice should be Jesus' own craft: carpentry, with a specialization in design and the management of furniture manufacturing plants.

'Master' of one's own economic destiny

It's a well-known fact that the Italian government offers no bursaries in Aramaic, but on the other hand it gives out a boatload of money in bursaries for Italian-Canadians willing to attend university in Italy - all expenses paid - in order to obtain exactly that designation of master in design and technical management of furniture manufacturing plants and systems.
This specialization course takes place in Italy, following a couple of weeks of orientation classes offered in Toronto at the Canadian Business College.
This offer concerns, with the bureaucratic exactitude required in these cases, 20 youth of Italian origin, 35 years old or younger, holding a diploma or a degree in technical or scientific subjects, interested in attending a nine-month course that will include two weeks in Canada and the remaining time in the Italian region of Marche.

Courses are totally free of charge

The project, totally free of charge for the students, is funded by the Italian Ministry of Labour and Social Security in the framework of training activities for Italians living outside the European Union.
It must be considered that the project entails the expenditure of a boatload of money. The bill that Italy will have to foot, in fact, adds up to €622,000; a nice amount, especially in Canadian dollars.
What Italy wants to achieve with this and other similar projects is to prepare young people to manage the technical and organizational aspects of design and operation of methodologies and systems used in furniture manufacturing.

The project is handled by TecnoMarche, i.e. the Science and Technology Park of Marche, the top Italian region in furniture manufacture and production of woodworking machinery.
It's easy to see that, by training industry experts who speak Italian and run companies around the world, Italy generates a lot of contacts that can boost employment, export and, more in general, well-being in Italy.

Consorzio Scuola Lavoro

The official announcement clearly states that "The project is meant to increase awareness in Canada about Italian systems and technologies, thus establishing a core of competent people who can improve their occupational position and favour the growth of Italian companies in Canada."
The students who will be picked for this specialization course will hopefully develop a feeling of attachment and gratitude, return to Canada and becoming company managers, technicians, engineering experts, architects and interior designers, working in software, consulting and technical assistance.
The list makes it clear that this course is particularly suitable for youth planning to become company managers but also engineers, computer experts, architects or interior designers.

To whom, how, when and where to apply

The establishment of these bursaries for Canada is the result of the collaboration between Consorzio Scuola e Lavoro and Canadian Business College.
Toronto's Canadian Bus-iness College offers training programs and diplomas approved - in compliance with the Private Career College Act - by the Ontario Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities. The College is well known in Canada in the field of career training, ranging from trade and industry to law, computers and graphics.
Consorzio Scuola Lavoro of Canada is a business created in Toronto in order to favour the access of young Canadians of Italian origin to the programs that the Government of Italy and the European Commission make available to assist their transition from school to work. Said programs concern professional guidance and vocational training.

Consorzio Scuola Lavoro will give information on accommodation in Italy, course characteristics, location of the institute in Ascoli Piceno and anything else that the candidates, and their parents, might wish to know.

Ascoli Piceno: from ancient Romans times to hi tech modernity

The selected students will live in Ascoli Piceno, a beautiful town in Marche that is also an important centre of industry and industrial studies.
Ascoli Piceno is an ancient yet very modern town, between the Adriatic Sea and the Apennines. The young Italian-Canadians will discover that ancient Asculum, the old capital of the Piceni, fell to Rome in 286 bCE. For several centuries it was a city-state, until it was incorporated in the Papal States, in 1502.
Its history is sculpted in its churches and palaces, and can be read like in an open book in its squares and streets.
The economic engine of the town is formed by its export-oriented industries, particularly furniture and shoe manufactures.
The intellectual centre of Ascoli Piceno lies in its University Consortium, a planning authority for the development of university education and scientific research. The Consortium provides bursaries for undergraduate and postgraduate studies, and is especially interested in promoting a culture of innovation in private and public entities.