The International Education fair held at St Regis Mumbai was packed with students and parents alike. The fair which lasted for over fours hours had prospective students throng the expanse even before the fair could start. After a long lull, it seems Mumbai's youngsters are all geared to study abroad. About 600 youngsters alone attended the fair seeking education abroad, some came with parents, others with older siblings.
While a variety of colleges stood there wooing students, it was clearly the Trinity College of Dublin which was the most crowded stall at the venue. In fact, crowds stood fixed at this stall all through the fair.. Its representative Nilanjana Shin said that she was not surprised with the numbers at her stall. "Trinity is one of the 7th ancient universities of the world after Oxford and Cambridge. Currently, it is in their 409th year and throughout these years we have continued to build in academic excellence."
Representatives from Universities like Twente, Abu Dhabi University, University of Bradford, International American University were other stalls which saw huge crowds. "India is the leading market in terms of education abroad. We do get quality students from India," said Azan Shaikh, representative of Norwich University of the Arts. He added that his University is known to be very creative and doesn't focuses on only STEM subjects but on creative arts projects.
Banat University of Agriculture Sciences and Veterinary Medicine of Timisoara representative said that his university provides free stay along with free food. When asked about placement provision he answered that campus opportunities are provided. "This helps students to balance studies and work and works very well for students from India."
Representatives of the International American University said that his university is known for its different pedagogy.
"We base our study on practical methodologies which we provide along with internships and this makes students well prepared for the long term.
"While interacting with students FPJ learned that many of the students had come there to look for business related courses. Polina Naidenko, the co-ordinator from the organiser company, said that the information that Mumbai's students are keen to do their MBA abroad hence the particular set of universities were chosen.
Parents keep an eye on finance
Parents were heard inquiring about loans and financial assistance too. "I have two children and they are still in school, I need to be well prepared with my finances when they complete their schooling so I can send them abroad for higher education," said Aman's Mother who refused to share her full name.
She had come to check out the global education market post the pandemic. Youngsters who had come there were mostly decided on their line of academics and tried to match their skills to the universities which were there. "I prefer International universities as they are more practical than Indian universities. I would like to pursue my film studies abroad and they allow these type of studies along with bachelors" said a youngster Snehal Zarapkar who was keenly speaking with several university representatives.
All representatives said that while admissions were slow last year because of the pandemic, this year normalcy seems to be taking over, though strict quarantine rules are still in place.
The representative of Banat University of Romania said, "Quarantine for a few days is compulsory in Romania and we let our students quarantine free of cost so no issues on that either."
Speaking on quarantine, Deepshika Chauhan, the representative of ICN University of France stated that 30 days of quarantine is compulsory irrespective of being vaccinated.
The director of Uni-Italia, Federica Maria Giove, said that students coming into Italy for studies have to undergo a 10-day mandatory quarantine so self-isolate themselves at their residences.
The International American University representative said that students vaccinated with Covishield can enter the university without quarantine but rest need to be quarantined for sure.
Even during closing hours, the fair was still busy and active with prospective students and university exchanging notes and numbers. How many will materialise only time will tell but today seemed a good start for sure.
