Students, parents throng Pak-China Friendship Centre in large numbers
Islamabad
As it was on the opening day, the second day of ‘The News Education Expo 2016’ not only attracted a large number of students but also the families wanting to ensure a bright future for their wards.
The stall managers had a busy day dealing with students from all backgrounds. Besides local students from Rawalpindi and Islamabad, students from Khyber Pakhtukhwa also came to attend the expo. “I have just arrived from Peshawar to gather as much information as possible,” said Mukarram Khan who was looking for a standard and affordable option to do his Bachelors in Electrical Engineering. “It would not be easy for my family to financially support my higher education. It is because of the same reason that I want to select the institution carefully,” he said.
Groups of students, both boys and girls, kept arriving at the venue all day. “We are dealing with equal number of boys and girls. It is interesting to note that most of the girls are also more interested in engineering field as compared to arts and medical sciences,” said Zunera Khan, a representative of Iqra University.
Her comments were confirmed by a group of female computer engineers from Quaid-i-Azam University, including Urooj Wahid, Mehwish Siddique, Tehreem Sarwar, Aqsa Gul, Faiqa Qaiser, Nida Waheed and Natasha Javed, gathering information from different stalls.
“We are here to collect information and attend the career-counselling session. Such activities keep us updated and encourage us to explore further opportunities,” said Mehwish Siddique. Interestingly, all of them planned to go abroad after completing their degrees here. “Things have changed. Our family supports us in getting the best degree possible. We are here because of their confidence in us,” said Urooj Wahid.
Parents also accompanied their children. “I am not a degree-holder engineer but I have worked in the technical field for many decades. Now my daughter wants to become an electrical engineer. She is good in studies and I want her to excel as a professional in this field,” said a father, Tariq Mehmood.
The second storey of the exhibition got attention of the visitors due to display of projects by the universities. Hamdard University students displayed their award-winning project of Country Pharmacy which shows the design of an ideal pharmacy with retail and information section and facility of disposing and compounding.
Dr Junaid Adil and Khalid Naseem explained the much-needed concept to the visitors and claimed that this model can solve many issues faced by the consumers.
Close to their model, another model of a Hi-Coating System introduced a new way of coating tablets. “We have prepared the model and looking for funds to convert this model into a reality,” said Rana Hassan and Uzair Akbar from Hamdard University.
Besides that, a model using LiWi instead of WiFi was displayed by the students of the same university in which light is used instead of waves to communicate messages. Supervisor of the project Asghar Khan claim that it is the 5G concept yet to be introduced in the country.
Next to them was Road Alignment Project displayed by the students of International Islamic University. They used real material to connect canal through Trust Bridge, Cable Bridge and Bitumen Road. Sameer Abbas, Ghulam Mustafa and Tauseef Rehman at the stall said that they have explained the project to more than 50 students and teacher during the expo.
The Project Zone also included a Tech Toys stall led by an educationist Faheem Siddiqui. The prices of the robots on sale ranged from Rs1000 to Rs 2, 50, 000. “These are the toys that play very effective role in building the creative skills of children. This is an investment for the future of children. Instead of buying guns and music toys for them, I would recommend parents to buy a robot toy for their children,” he said while talking to ‘The News’.
The second day was also filled with activities in the main hall of Pak-China Friendship Centre which remained jam-packed with energetic and enthusiastic students from different colleges and universities. “It was indeed a memorable experience,” said Adeela Shakeel, a young visitor after attending the debate competition.