English to impart global appeal to Italian university

Politecnico di Milano, a leading Italian university, established in 1863, will turn English medium from 2014. Adopting English as its medium of instruction to impart higher education courses at its premises, the University is looking to project a truly global outlook attracting international students from other countries including India and China.

The Milan-based university has announced that from 2014, most of its degree courses will be taught and assessed in English.

It's a significant move for the university, as foreign languages such as Italian in this case, become an impediment for such institutes to compete amidst rising global competition in the higher education sector in terms of attracting overseas students.

Now, for instance, UK students may find this a welcome opportunity to avail comparatively affordable higher education in Italy as compared to the sky rocketing cost of higher education in UK universities.

"We strongly believe our classes should be international classes - and the only way to have international classes is to use the English language," the rector, Giovanni Azzone told BBC. He added, "It's very important for our students not only to have very good technical skills, but also to work in an international environment." Read more

While English is hardly a foreign language in India anymore, and has percolated deep into the Indian higher education system since independence in 1947, several other non-English speaking countries have also adopted English as the medium of instruction, including some universities in China and South Korea.

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