Cosenza, Unical and Guardia di Finanza together against scholarship fraud

John

By John

A decisive step to guarantee greater equity and transparency in access to scholarships and university accommodation. The rector of the University of Calabria, Nicola Leone, and the Provincial Commander of the Guardia di Finanza of Cosenza, Colonel Giuseppe Dell’Annahave signed a memorandum of understanding aimed at strengthening the system for preventing and combating illicit conduct to the detriment of the common economic good, with regard to scholarships and student accommodation, which are particularly valuable in the current context of “high rents” .

The agreement was signed as part of the national protocol between the Ministry of University and Research (Mur) and the Guardia di Finanza, which allows the bodies adhering to Andisu – the national body that brings together the institutions for the law being studied in Italy – to sign territorial agreements. Unical is among the first universities in Italy to have followed up on the national protocol by signing the agreement with the Fiamme Gialle.

The agreement promises to intensify checks on the certifications presented by beneficiaries, ensuring that aid goes to those who are actually entitled to it. In a context in which accommodation and economic resources are limited, this initiative aims to prevent any “smart” scholarship holders from taking away opportunities from those who really need them.

This control activity, which in the past the university conducted independently, will now be able to find new impetus thanks to a working model that will allow the Guardia di Finanza to receive the information necessary to verify the full legality of the provision of subsidies.

After the signature, the rector Nicola Leone underlined: «This is a virtuous collaboration between the institutions aimed at protecting and promoting the culture of legality, preventing the rights of the neediest students from being usurped by the frauds of the “crafty” ones».

In this regard, Colonel Giuseppe Dell’Anna wanted to underline that: «The Financial Police Corps, which I am honored to represent in the province of Cosenza, and of which this year marks the 250th anniversary of its foundation, has always been committed alongside all the institutions in preventing and combating conduct detrimental to the economic-financial interests of the State and, the signing of today’s protocol, testifies, once again, to the unconditional commitment and attention that the Corps places and instills in initiatives aimed to protect the interests of the country”.

Gianpaolo IazzolinoUnical delegate for the right to education and member of the Andisu Executive Committee, expressed satisfaction with the result achieved: «This agreement will not only strengthen the fairness of treatment of students in the assignment of scholarships, but will also allow us to expand our action to raise awareness of legality, promoting training meetings with the support of the Guardia di Finanza.

Finally, the collaboration will guarantee greater transparency and efficiency in the management of public funds, further reducing the risk of fraud, such as those which unfortunately occurred in some Italian regions in the past.”

The collaboration agreement will be valid for three years, renewable.