The News Education Expo 2015 becomes an instant hit in capital

Islamabad
Over years, ‘The News Education Expo’ has emerged as one of the biggest education shows in Pakistan bringing together big national and international educational institutions under one roof. This year too, the mega event of the Jang Group started at the Pak-China Friendship Centre here on Wednesday in a big way.
The two-day event provides prospective students a platform to explore academic opportunities available in Pakistan and abroad. Minister for Information and Broadcasting Senator Pervaiz Rashid inaugurated the event and highly appreciated the efforts of the Jang Group for facilitating students. ‘The News Education Expo’ is being held in collaboration with the Higher Education Commission (HEC) and the British Council.
Students thronged the venue in thousands and took keen interest in career navigation session by the HEC, testing and assessment in public service by the NTS, career counselling sessions by the Riphah University besides visiting the stalls of more than 70 educational institutions which exhibited their brochures as well as projects made by their students. The sessions aimed at providing useful advice to students regarding academic planning and career. The venue of the sessions also remained crowded with eager students who attentively listened to the counsellors and asked relevant questions.
After inaugurating the event, Senator Pervaiz Rashid visited all stalls of the educational institutions and highly appreciated the well-organised event. He said that it is a very good step and a noble service by the Jang Group that helps the students to explore their choices nationally and internationally under one roof. It brings harmony among all educational institutes. The Jang Group has become a bridge between the educational providers and educational seekers. It is heartening to see that all educational institutes have earned a good name in Pakistan and abroad. The government is also running many educational institutions in the country. Many students have benefited from the Endowment Fund provided by the government. More than 80,000 students have been facilitated through this fund. “This time I can see there are more stalls as well as the students are taking deep interest in exploring their choices. There are many opportunities offered here and students can benefit from this educational exhibition,” he said.
Jang Group Managing Director Sarmad Ali, while talking to ‘The News,’ said “It is our 8th education expo in a row and it is remarkable in many ways.
“Many visiting parents are aware of the fact that they cannot just focus on conventional institutes and want to know what the market has in store for them in terms of the market-driven academic institutions. After getting a tremendous response from educational institutes as well as students, we have decided to organise education expos in six cities this year — Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, Peshawar, Multan and Faisalabad. The next year, we will add two more cities for those students who cannot reach the big cities. This time, we have included debate competition, painting competition, project displays of universities, innovative idea sharing and documentaries which have received a tremendous response from students. We plan to bring the whole affair online and conduct virtual sessions for students,” he said.
The visitors, including parents, were seen having discussions with representatives of schools, colleges, universities and other education-related organisations, in particular education consultants and career counsellors. There were many students who had opted to work as volunteers to facilitate students in getting information.
“The expo proved quite a rewarding experience for me,” said a NUML student, Bilal Chaudhry, who wanted to get information about scholarships. “The academic institutions should offer more scholarships to facilitate students,” he said.
Another student, Abdul Rafey, from Arid Agriculture University, said “The expo is a very good initiative to bring a large number of universities under one roof so that we can chose whatever is best for us without visiting them one by one.”
Another student, Shazaib, studying in a federal government college, said that he wanted to ask questions about a particular university. “It is good to see its counsellors sitting at a stall. I can now get a better picture and ask questions that have remained unanswered otherwise,” he added.
The representatives of the newly set up academic institutions termed the Jang Group expo quite fruitful for students because most of them don’t know about programmes, degrees and diplomas they are offering. Many students were given flyers and brochures at the entrance and guided where their stalls were located.
The event, which will continue from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. today (Thursday), with absolutely free entry, is expected to attract thousands of students and their parents. Besides the stalls of academic institutions, there are pavilions of handicrafts, art and design and embroidered clothes.
The universities and institutions at the expo are offering Agriculture, Art and Design, Architecture, Business, Commerce, Banking, Chartered Accountancy, Computer Sciences, Communications, Finance, Media, Space Technology, Languages, Hotel Management, Sciences, Fashion Design, Fine Arts, Economics, Information Technology, Engineering, Law, Medicine, Nursing, Textile Design, to name a few.