A high number of students wishing to pursue higher education overseas attended an expo at a local hotel featuring about 15 Australian universities and colleges.
The expo is part of the Australian Education Roadshow organised by the Australian Education Office (AEO) Pakistan, which has planned to move along six cities of the country, of which Lahore and Islamabad have been visited, while Karachi, Multan, Peshawar and Faisalabad are the remaining destinations.
The Islamabad expo on Wednesday was the second stint of the visits.
Representatives from the University of New South Wales (UNSW), University of Melbourne, University of Technology Sydney, Griffith University, Curtin University, Canberra Institute of Technology, La Trobe, Deakin University and University of Wollongong were present at the expo.
Ayesha Khurram was visiting along with her son, Haad, to find out more about engineering programmes offered in Australia. “We visited the University of Technology Sydney’s stall and are now looking to talk to some other representatives of other varsities to find a suitable option,” she said, and moved forward towards the stall of Griffith University.
Sadaf Abbas said he was interested in doing a PhD and was already in contact with officials at UNSW. He said that it seemed that the university officials at the event were keener about students interested in undergraduate and graduate programmes.
Majority of students were interested in seeking information about universities that were offering scholarships or funded programmes. “I have visited desks of several institutes but options offering scholarships are almost close to none,” said Adeel Atif, a business administration student from Bahria University.
Hammad, a representative at the UNSW desk, elaborated that the Australian government did not offer funded programmes for course work (graduate, undergraduate) but for research programmes (PhD). He said that most students inquired about programmes such as engineering, management sciences and business administration.
Haripur, Quetta, Nowshera students barred. Misbah Urooj, representative from University of Canberra, said the Australian government had officially disallowed admission to students from areas such as Haripur, Quetta and Nowshera.
CEO and Resident Director of AEO Pakistan Saad Mahmood elaborated that the Australian government and universities encouraged students who wanted to study [only] and not get involved in other businesses.
“People from the certain areas have been barred as they were found to be indulging in activities other than the purpose of their entry in Australia,” he said, adding students were required to sit in a Genuine Temporary Entrant assessment which helped ensure they were serious to pursue their studies.
Zahid Saleem, a student from National University of Science and Technology, said the expo provided an opportunity to meet officials of various universities face-to-face that helped clear confusions which could not be sorted out online. “That is why I am here,” he remarked.
The exhibition goes to Karachi on January 31 at the Marriot, Multan on January 31 as well at Ramada Hotel, Faisalabad on February 1 at Hotel One and lastly to Peshawar at PC Hotel on of February 1 too.
