Audience at the 20th edition of The Hindu Education Plus International Education Fair held at Loyola College in Nungambakkam, Chennai on Sunday.
| Photo Credit: Akhila Easwaran
Hundreds of visitors, some students with their parents, flocked to the 20th edition of the International Education Fair held at Loyola College in the city on Sunday, to understand the nuances of applying to higher educational institutions abroad.
Inaugurating the event B. Jayaraj, S.J., Secretary and Correspondent of Loyola College, said there are cultural differences between countries. To explain it, he recalled his experience as a PhD student in the United States. It took him six months to follow his guide’s suggestion that he must be called by his first name. “I encourage you to study abroad. Please look for scholarships. If you do well in GRE and TOEFL you will get teaching assistantships. I appeal to the banks to support the students generously. They will be able to get a job and pay back,” he said.
D. Damodaran and his wife Swarnalatha, hailing from K.K. Nagar, were checking out opportunities for their son who wants to pursue postgraduation in Computer Science in Germany. Mr. Damodaran is working in a nationalised bank. “He wants to do MS in Computer Science. To study in a public university, it costs Rs. 25 lakhs. His document verification is under process. It is rare to get admitted to a public university in Germany,” he said.
For students like Jasmin Jeril and her classmate Varshini V., it was an opportunity to familiarise themselves with the processes. They are pursuing B Tech CSE in a private college in the city.
There were six sessions in all. Arvind Shivamani, advisor, Education USA, spoke on the opportunities for students in that country. Manjusha Ravindranath, regional programme manager, FES Study Abroad powered by Fragomen spoke on how to strategise the journey to studying abroad. Arun V, DGM, zonal manager, of Bank of Maharashtra spoke on the various aspects of education loans.
Post-lunch there was a session each on studying in European countries including pursuing research Germany, addressed by Kavitha Somasundaram, regional officer, Chennai, DAAD; and studying and living in the United Kingdom by Vinya Suzanna, education manager for India, British Council. Ajit Rajkumar, manager, Chennai, Campus France, gave a glimpse of what students can expect when they go to study in France.
The event was presented by FES Study Abroad (powered by Fragomen India) and Powered by Bank of Maharashtra. The knowledge partners were British Council, from the United Kingdom; Education USA, from the United States of America; Campus France, representing France; and DAAD, representing Germany.
The associate partners were Harvest Abroad and HDFC Credila, the global banking partner was the Bank of Baroda. The forex and travel partner was Unimoni, and the regional banking partners were the State Bank of India, the Union Bank of India. The venue partner for the event was Loyola College.