Islamabad
Hundreds of students visited the Education Expo 2012 organised by the HR Consultants to meet university representatives of nine countries and discuss future options. Many of them applied for admission in top universities on the spot.
Students, sometimes accompanied by their parents, visited different stalls where they met the university representatives welcoming them with bright smile and complete attention. Besides UK, USA, Australia and Canada, universities from United Arab Emirates, Germany and Turkey also participated in the expo.
A big rush was observed on Turkish stall where Lale Day from Ozyegin University, Istanbul, provided all relevant information to the students. “Turkey has many advantages. The universities are of same standard as Europe, but the tuition fee and living expenses are almost half as compared to other European countries,” she said.
Another big attraction was 50 per cent scholarship especially for Pakistani students that qualify the merit. Adding to that, she said there is no cultural shock for students as Turkey is an Islamic country. “And we can have ‘halal’ food in Turkey,” pointed out a visitor.
Students from places such as Swat and Malakand came this far especially to utilise the opportunity and sought guidance from the qualified foreign consultants. “Visiting such expo is a new experience for me,” said a law student Muaz Khan from Swat. “I want to get a good degree in law from a Canadian University and I am glad that I have been able to find all required information from the expo,” he said.
“Things are absolutely normal in our area. The situation we had in recent past has actually encouraged us to get better educational qualification,” said Muhammad Tayyab from Swat. The students brought their papers along. “There are some important papers missing, which we will provide later,” said Tayyab.
The representatives of HR Consultants told ‘The News’ that 50 per cent of students visiting the expo apply on the spot. “In many cases, their papers are not complete. That is where we guide them and stay in contact with them so that they can provide us the complete set of documents within the required time,” said Education Consultant Faisal Chaudhry.
There are many students who come really prepared. “They collect information from the websites and social media. Sometimes they even have information about the faculty of department they are applying with and they investigate whether the same faculty is present in the university or not,” said Zafar Naqvi, representing the BPP university, UK.
Sharing his observations, Naqvi said that few years later, the students were less interested in studies and more in settling abroad. “It is good to see that now the youth has realised that good and relevant degree counts no matter where you are living,” he said. “Now they actually look for better qualification and that I think is a good trend in Pakistani youth.” He said that some students have shared with him that they want to apply in UK because of the London Olympics. Young representative from BPP University said that while providing services, they look for the strong financial resources of the students, their grades and gaps, if any, in their studies. He advised students to be confident and clear about their financial resources and courses they want to study before making any plan to go abroad for education. He termed it a good sign that students from underdeveloped areas are visiting these expos in a big number.
Commenting on the representation of Turkey and UAE in Education Expo, Director HR Consultant Shahid Rauf said that it will open the door of new opportunities for Pakistan students. “We had Pakistani students in these countries, but this is the first time that these universities are marketing in Pakistan.” He said that around one thousand students visit the expo each time. “We help around 20,000 to 25,000 students in getting admission in the best colleges and universities around the world. Among them, 10 per cent are girls and 90 per cent are boys, but the number of girls is rapidly increasing,” he said adding that parents prefer to send their daughters to countries where they already have their relatives.
He shared that parents are mostly concerned about the security of their daughters. “According to our information, the girl students feel completely safe and confident while studying abroad,” he said.
The visitors included a large number of girls as well. “I think things are changing for good in our country,” said Rizwana Humayun, mother of Ayesha who was busy visiting different stalls. Rizwana who was a simple graduate has many dreams for her daughter. “Ayesha plans to specialise in Chemistry from any Canadian university,” she added.
Courtesy: The News
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