Study abroad fairs gain traction post-pandemic
Higher education startup Leverage Edu conducted UniConnect Fair’s Mumbai Chapter on Saturday at JW Marriott Juhu. It saw the participation of more than 30+ universities from countries such as the UK, USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Ireland.
Students from across Mumbai thronged the luxury hotel to find the university that complements their aspirations when it comes to studying abroad.
Though the long queues and waiting time were time-consuming for many aspirants, it provided a glimpse into the fact that many are either planning to go to their favoured study destination this year or by fall next year. More students were interested in studying in the UK, USA, and Canada compared to Australia, New Zealand, and Ireland. The latter gave out fewer tokens and saw less number of inquiries than the former. A booth dedicated to all the six countries was also set up so that students can get a more well-rounded perspective on opportunities that are available in the anglosphere.
Nishant Pandya, a Management studies aspirant, came to the fair to find some of the best universities overseas and understand what opportunities lie ahead of him. “Today’s fair has prominent universities from all the countries but I am more interested in what Trinity College in Dublin has to offer as it’s one of the top-ranking institutions,” said Nishant. Yash, another aspirant, didn't share the same opinion and wished to see more universities that offer Project Management, with a ranking of anywhere between 10-200 in World University standings.
Kiran, a Law aspirant, looked forward to universities in the UK as Indian and British law are very similar in nature. “I had my college farewell today but I had to skip it as my future is more important,” said Kiran, who was interested in institutions such as the University of Law in Surrey and the University of Essex.
Apart from the presence of renowned institutions such as Nottingham Trent University, University of Greenwich, Regent’s University of London, University of Essex, De Montfort University, University of York, University of Portsmouth, etc, institutions from the lesserknown parts of the UK were also present. Bishop Grosseteste University, a public university in Lincoln, England, also made its mark by offering various Master's programmes to students.
“Our university is 40 minutes away from the city of Birmingham and two hours away from the capital city of London, so students will find it very easy to travel to major city centres. We offer various scholarship programmes that can help with funding tuition and accommodation, which are facilitated for the students. Bishop Grosseteste also has the advantage of having 1 teacher per 20 students, thus every pupil has the benefit of receiving individual attention which is important for any individual who has come so far away from home,” said Yukti Singh, the university representative from BGU.
The huge number of universities and students at the fair also amused Akshay Chaturvedi, Founder, and CEO, of Leverage Edu who couldn’t have asked for anything more. “We expected anywhere between 500600 students at first but now we are seeing registrations numbering around 2000 students. The excitement and enthusiasm among the students post-Covid was something we were looking forward to,” said Akshay. The study fair chapters in cities such as Hyderabad,
Delhi, etc, will be initiated in the coming months.
GeeBee Education
Geebee Education in collaboration with Leap Finance organised a study fair at Hotel Sahara in Vile Parle, Mumbai.
The fair witnessed not only countries from the usual lot of the UK, USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Ireland but also Asian countries such as Singapore and the UAE. Universities from Switzerland also made their presence felt during the fair.
Dubbed as the "biggest study fair in India", GeeBee Education fair saw more parents taking the initiative to talk to different universities, present at the venue, along with their children.
It followed a first-come, first-serve approach to help students with universities that cater to their programme choices.
Wilfrid Laurier University, University of West London, Oxford Brookes University, University of Auckland, Kent State University, Arizona State University, University of Adelaide, and many other renowned institutions participated in the event.
"We have been standing here for a good 15-20 minutes but still haven't been able to get through to our desired college. This goes on to show that the demand for studying abroad is at an alltime high," said Akash Raut, a STEM field aspirant.
Many aspirants carried various academic documents for on-the-spot assessment and scholarships being provided at the fair.
"We are one of the oldest institutions in Canada and offer more than 110 programmes in the field of technology, trade and business. We offer $5 million in awards to students in almost every program but it's completely dependent on their academic success, financial need, and other factors," said a university representative from Southern Alberta Institute of Technology.