Italian & Canadian schools partner on exchange

Italian technical college Fondazione Jobs Academy and Mohawk College in Ontario, Canada, have signed an international credit mobility agreement, which will send students and faculty members on exchanges that will be co-funded by an EU grant.

Through the Erasmus+ KA107 Program, the project will support five Jobs Academy students at Mohawk for one semester, while providing five Mohawk students with the opportunity to travel to Italy for eight weeks.

The exchange will enhance the Mohawk students’ skills in an Italian work setting and they will learn about the local culture, according to the two institutions.

“We are extremely pleased [with] this great achievement that stems from our ongoing commitment to advance Canada’s international education strategy and our yearly EduCanada Fairs in Italy, ” the Canadian ambassador to Italy Alexandra Bugailiskis said in a statement.

Canada is a world leader in Technical and Vocational Education and Canada’s Colleges and Institutions greatly contribute to building tomorrow’s workforce, she added.

“Combining Canada’s know-how with Italy’s renowned talents and its innovative Industry 4.0 agenda, will expose students from Mohawk College and The Job Academy to the best of the two worlds.”

Fondazione ITS is the only non-university approved participant in the Erasmus+ mobility project, and Mohawk is one of a “limited number” of approved Canadian partners with the Erasmus + Program.

An Erasmus International Credit Mobility offers students to obtain credits while studying in a foreign university for 3-12 months, while grants for staff mobility covers 5-60 days.

According to the European Commission, Canada & the US makes up almost 5% of the entire international mobility budget and in 2017 had funded 524 projects for bilateral partnerships that organise mobility for almost 4 400 students, researchers, and staff.

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