Lombardy Region, school merit endowment: call open, 2 million available for excellent students.

The call for applications by the Lombardy Region to access the Dote Scuola – Merito is now open. Applications must be submitted online by 12:21 on Thursday XNUMX November, on the website bandi.regione.lombardia.it at this link. The non-repayable contribution is intended for students who achieved excellent results in the 2023-2024 school year and aims to support the costs of purchasing textbooks, technological equipment, teaching tools or registration and attendance fees for academic or higher education courses, in Italy or abroad.

Specifically, this measure, funded with 2 million euros and intended for the student's family, consists of a virtual voucher for the purchase of teaching materials or for the reimbursement of university fees or Higher Technical-Professional Education Courses. The benefit is awarded to deserving students, regardless of their ISEE value or other income requirements.

COUNCILLOR TIRONI: CONCRETE SUPPORT TO REWARD THE MOST DESERVING 

"My mission - comments the regional councilor for Education, Training and Work. Simona Tironi - is to continue to offer deserving students the opportunity to continue their education with fewer financial worries".

"Last year – recalls the councilor – we wanted to increase the contribution to 2 million precisely because we are convinced of how crucial it is, for students and their families, to be able to count on concrete support to support the ambitions of girls and boys who are committed to studying and acquiring specific skills. We are aware that our human capital has taken on a fundamental value and importance for the development of businesses, the economy and more generally of the 'Lombardy system'".

THE VOUCHERS ISSUED

Lombardy Region will provide a virtual voucher worth 500 euros, aimed at the purchase of textbooks, technological equipment and teaching tools, for the benefit of students in the third and fourth classes of the Education System (Secondary Schools) who have achieved a final grade average of 9 or higher (excluding the Religion grade).

Disponibile so a virtual voucher worth 1.500 euros, aimed at the purchase of textbooks, technological equipment, teaching tools or the reimbursement of enrolment and attendance costs at Higher Technical Training Institutes (IFTS), Higher Technical Institutes (ITS), Universities and other Higher Education Institutions, for students in the fifth classes of the Education System who have obtained a final grade of 100 cum laude in the State exam; the reimbursement cannot in any case exceed the maximum amount of 1.500 euros.

RECEIPT OF APPLICATION AND DEADLINE FOR USE OF VOUCHER

The School Endowment Contribution – Merit Component It can be spent exclusively no later than September 30, 2025.

The telematic receipt of the application is communicated to the applicant, via email, to the address indicated in the personal data section of Bandi e Servizi. The message contains the application identification number, to be referred to in the subsequent phases.

Applications admitted to the Dote Scuola contribution – Merit component are financed within 30 days of the assignment decree; the vouchers can be spent from the date of their issue and by the deadline of 30 September 2025, at the distribution network affiliated with the service manager, Edenred Italia srl ​​or through reimbursement of eligible expenses, documented and presented according to the instructions communicated by Edenred Italia Srl and, in any case, by 30 September 2025.

THE PURCHASABLE MATERIAL

The contribution is intended for the purchase of textbooks (including university and higher education), technological equipment and tools for teaching at the network of affiliated stores 'Dote Scuola'.

The textbooks category includes, for example: textbooks, fiction and dictionaries (both paper and digital), in Italian or in a foreign language. The technological equipment category includes personal computers, tablets, e-book readers, printers, software (programs and operating systems for school use, including for learning disorders and disabilities), data storage devices (USB sticks, CD/DVD/CD-ROMs, memory cards, external hard disks), input devices (keyboards, e-pencils, smart-card readers, mice), output devices (PC monitors, printers) and any hardware related to the PC, with the sole exception of consumables (for example, cartridges, toner, paper).

Teaching materials include tools for technical drawing (compasses, rulers and set squares, protractors), for artistic drawing (brushes, spatulas, watercolours, markers, colours), personal protective equipment for laboratory use (uniforms, protections and safety footwear), musical instruments required by schools for teaching activities. Consumable materials such as, for example, pens, pencils, notebooks, sheets of paper, diaries and pencil cases, backpacks and folders are not included in the category of purchasable products. The contribution can also be used for access to cultural goods and services, such as exhibitions, museums, theatres.

Exclusively for students in the fifth year of the Education System who have achieved a final grade of 100 cum laude in the State exam and for students in the fourth year of the Professional Education and Training System (IeFP) who have achieved a grade of 100 in the Professional Diploma exams, the contribution can be used as a reimbursement for the costs of enrollment and attendance at Higher Technical Training Institutes (IFTS), Higher Technical Institutes (ITS), Universities and other Higher Education institutions. The refund is calculated up to a maximum of 1.500 euros.