Marco Polo Programme 2012-2013

The “Marco Polo” Programme was launched in 2004 by the CRUI (Conference of Italian University Rectors), upon the direct request of the Presidency of the Italian Republic, with the aim of increasing the presence of Chinese students in Italian universities.

In order to reach the Programme objectives, priority is given to the organisation of preliminary Italian language courses aimed at Chinese students who have pre-enrolled in Italian universities.

As a consequence of the agreement between the Italian and Chinese governments, pre-enrolment and enrolment for in situ Italian language courses facilitates the issue of study visas and residence permits in Italy. Once a Chinese student has passed his/her Italian language final examination, he/she will be exempted from taking the national Italian Language exam and will be eligible to enrol in an Italian university without returning to China.

The University of Milan has been involved in the “Marco Polo” Programme since its origin, on account of the interest of our academic and research units in the geographic and cultural area of east-southern Asia, and particularly China, which has the most dynamic economy in the region.

The University of Milan has offered to act as a centre for Italian language courses, due to its expertise in this particular field, which has been developed by the University’s Faculty of Humanities.

The Italian language course is ranked according to the reference standards of the Common European Framework - Council of Europe B1/B2. It involves 600 hours of study over a period of 6 months, from March to August 2012. At the end of the course, there will be a final examination, which is expected to take place in the first half of September.

Priority will be accorded to students that already studied Italian language and reached a level of proficiency marked as A2 of the Common European Framework - Council of Europe.

The language courses for Chinese students will be supplemented by various educational activities and complementary cultural activities.

For more information
International Relations Office
mobility.in@unimi.it