Enabling students and parents to directly get in touch with representatives from academic institutions seamlessly was what every stakeholder of The New Indian Express' Indian Education Fair 2018 in Dubai, commended, right from students and parents to the institutes who participated. Having no intermediary and the ability to have face-to-face interactions were the two factors that kept the tempo going at the Grand Excelsior Hotel on the second day as well.
A footfall of 6,000 on both the days, including students who were accompanied by their families, was noted, with day two of the fair at the Grand Excelsior Hotel beginning with the same energy as day one, if not more. A good inflow of participants ensured that the stalls of universities like SRM Institute of Science and Technology, Hindustan Group of Institutions, Crescent Institute of Science and Technology, National Institute of Tourism and Hospitality Management, Marian College, Kuttikkanam and others were receiving consistent queries.
On the other side, the psychometric tests and goal setting programme that Ezone India conducted continued to see inquiries in great numbers and the same went for International Memory Coach John Louis' session titled Master Your Mind. Kumar Senguttuvan, who had heard about the fair on the radio, came along with his wife and daughter Kaviya, who was looking forward to attending John Louis' session. "I want to understand how can I learn complicated chemical equations and chemical formulas easily," said Kaviya. Memory Coach John Louis appreciated the fact that students from various institutes had the chance to connect with experts directly instead of conveying the information to the teachers. "Also because the atmosphere was friendly and informal, students asked their questions freely," he added.
"This expo offers a great chance for institutes to clear the doubts of parents in person because, though all the information is available online, parents always seek an in-person interaction to zero in on an institute," said Dr K Manivannan, Professor and Director-UG Admissions of Vellore Institute of Technology. Ganesh Rathinam, the Director of Corporate Office and CMO of Crescent Institute of Science and Technology, informed that while the sheen of engineering might be wearing off in India, in Dubai, parents continue to see it as a field to aspire for. He also added that "We had participated in TNIE's education fair in Dubai last year as well, where more than 800 families had walked in. And the response was great this time too. I also saw a lot of new players exhibiting here, which opens up the opportunities for everyone."
Siksha ‘O’ Anusandhan University was the only university from Odisha and Prof Anurag Satpathy expressed how this expo gives them a good opportunity for international exposure and Dr M Sathish, Assistant Professor from PSG Institute of Management praised the exposure too and added that they were happy with the positive response they managed to generate at the expo.
