The collaboration launched in 2024 between the Ministry of University and Research and the Guardia di Finanza for the protection of the right to education is being strengthened. Following more than 2,100 interventions concerning scholarships, with over 2.5 million euros in blocked disbursements and ascertained unlawful payments, the collaboration will now be extended to the protection of university housing, covering the more than 63,000 beds arranged by the Ministry of University on the basis of the PNRR tender.
"The Guardia di Finanza helped us bring clarity, by cross-referencing data from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, student welfare bodies and the Ministry of University, to ensure that foreign students who did not meet the necessary requirements to obtain scholarships could not access benefits to which they were not entitled," explained the Minister of University and Research, Anna Maria Bernini, presenting the strengthening of the memorandum of understanding at the headquarters of the Guardia di Finanza general command in Rome.
"We are asking them to do the same," she added, "for the 63,220 beds we have arranged on the basis of the PNRR tender, so that they are managed correctly. And so that the 30% right-to-study allocation guaranteeing 20,000 free places for students is provided in the most proper manner." "The right to education means nothing without scholarships and student residences that guarantee freedom of choice for deserving young people who lack the means," Bernini explained during the press conference. "However, when someone steals a place from a deserving student by claiming to be without means when they are not, they not only commit a crime, but deprive someone of the right to be themselves and to achieve their goals and pursue their dreams." For the Commander General of the Guardia di Finanza, General Andrea De Gennaro, "the results of the collaboration are extremely positive. Monitoring public expenditure alongside revenue control is one of the Guardia di Finanza's priority tasks. And the results," he said, "have been remarkable, with millions recovered in relation to scholarships that had been disbursed, and also with around one million euros worth of scholarships that were blocked before disbursement. This is the most important outcome because it means being able to find and uncover fraud or wrongdoing before public funds are paid out," he concluded.
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