‘Education Expo’ ends amid emphasis on student career counselling

Islamabad:The two-day ‘The News Education Expo 2023’ concluded at the Pak-China Friendship Centre here on Wednesday on a high note.

The Jang Media Group organised the event, which featured participants of over 40 national and international organisations and consultancy firms, and attracted people, especially students, in large numbers. Minister for Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony Senator Muhammad Talha Mahmood, who was the chief guest in the impressive concluding ceremony, gave away shields to participants over their active involvement in the expo.

He visited stalls and advocated career counselling for students, especially at the high school level, and highlighted its contribution to the nation's economic development. The minister praised the ‘Jang Media Group for furthering the cause of formal education and hoped that the efforts to facilitate the student community to get better educational opportunities would continue.

Representatives of the ‘Jang Media Group’ said the colleges and universities participating in the expo offered quality programmes from higher education to bachelor's to foundation level.

They said the event got tremendous response from the target audience to the pleasure of stall holders and that the expo was planned in other cities as well. The visitors appreciated the holding of the expo and said they had first-hand information about academic programmes available in the country and abroad.

Salima Moin said the event was very helpful for those planning further education like her as the stallholders answered all their questions from the intended courses’ contents to fee structure to acceptance by local and foreign authorities. Another visitor, Muhammad Qasim, said he found the event to be very well-organised. He said he had turned up to explore ways to execute her plans to study abroad and interacted with the representatives of foreign universities and consultants.

Muhammad Shazil, a student of the Roots School, said he wanted to go abroad for studies, so the expo provided him with good information on foreign education options. Rabia Anum, a student's mother, urged foreign missions to facilitate potential students and their parents to interact with educational institutions of their countries to make informed decisions about foreign education.

Marya Aman, a student of FAST University, said she had come to the event to gather information about a fashion course for her sister. "I'm happy to find so many educational institutions under one roof to give people easy access to information," she said. The stallholders, too, praised organisers for holding a good event and said he got a good response from visitors.

Haroon, manager (higher education mobility) at British Council, said for the first time, his organisation was part of ‘The News Education Expo’ and that turned out to be a good experience. He said the event helped the youth wanting to know educational prospects both in the country and abroad. "Besides courses offered by the UK-based educational institutions, we [British Council] also rolled out information about the scholarship programmes to the benefit of visitors," he said.

Education consultant from Karachi Dr. M. S. Ali said Canada had announced a new education policy under which parents could accompany their young children, enrolled in the country, for long-term living. He said more and more such events should happen to provide people with direct interaction with the representatives of both local and foreign colleges and universities for the sought-after information and guidance under one roof.

Brigadier (r) Muhammad Ajmal Hashmi of Bahria University highlighted his educational institution's future plans. He said his university offered engineering, law and media programs, and had planned more courses, especially in the field of health sciences. Deputy Director of Admissions at the Hamdard University Islamabad Muhammad Alf Shah appreciated the event as a good opportunity to showcase his university's projects, which, he said, generated significant interest of the visitors and gathered their positive response.