For a better future: Students throng education expo

University representatives provide counselling and on-the-spot admissions

ISLAMABAD: An education exhibition connecting Australian universities with aspiring students from Pakistan was held at a local hotel on Thursday. Representative of 18 universities attended the ‘Education Road Show’, hosted by the Australian Education Office (AEO) Pakistan, one of the largest testing centres in for the International English Language Testing System (IELTS).

Renowned universities including the University of Melbourne, University of Wollongong, University of New South Wales, La Trobe University, University of Canberra, Macquarie University and Deakin University, were present at the event. Representative from the universities provided free counselling and on-the-spot admissions to students seeking an Australian education.

Hundreds of students along with their parents were seen seeking guidance and information about education in Australia.

They switched between university representatives to gather information on their desired fields of education, the dynamics of different Australian cities, transferring their academic credits, availing scholarships, and so forth.

When asked about employment opportunities for Pakistani students after graduation in Australia, Griffith University’s Katherine Hunt said: “It all depends on the student’s performance while studying.” This includes a mix of having good marks, doing internships, volunteer work and of course having good people skills, she added.

“I want to study in Australia not just for quality education, but also for the lifestyle. The beauty and bustling city life are added bonuses to studying in Australia” said Maryam Ali, a student hoping to study in Sydney.

All universities at the event require certain IELTS scores and cumulative grade-point averages (CGPA) from applying students.

An AEO representative said students apply for a wide variety of fields, with most preferring business, marketing, finance, accounting and engineering.

Talking to The Express Tribune, AEO Chief Executive Officer Saad Mahmood said “Australian university representatives had not been coming [to Pakistan] for many years due to the security situation. However, they are now sending large groups of representatives as the security situation gets better.”

Chris Bandy, regional manager at the University of New South Wales, said “It does not matter what field of study the students apply for, as long as they have an aptitude for the subjects they are pursuing.”

The road show will continue across six major cities of Pakistan this year. AEO’s next exhibitions will be on August 29 in Multan, followed by events in Karachi, Faisalabad and Peshawar on August 30.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 28^th, 2015.