Hundreds of school students, faculty and parents thronged the opening day of the 16th edition of the International Education Show (IES 2020) in Sharjah on Wednesday, January 22.
The three-day fair that hosts 120 academic institutions from 20 countries is organised by the Expo Centre Sharjah, with support from the Sharjah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI), the Ministry of Education and the Sharjah Education Private Authority.
Sheikh Khalid bin Essam Al Qasimi, Chairman of the Department of Civil Aviation Sharjah, inaugurated the fair in presence of other senior dignitaries from the Sharjah government and Expo.
"This year, the event offers students several scholarship opportunities and provides them with admission requirements in the all participating national and foreign universities," said Sheikh Khalid Al Qasimi.
Sheikh Majid Faisal Khalid Al Qasimi, deputy chairman of the SCCI, said: "His Highness Sheikh Dr Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council and the Ruler of Sharjah, has allocated about 24 per cent of the general budget for 2020, to support scientific and cultural services and encourage creativity among the youth."
Colin Hoy, Digital Co-ordinator at The British Council UAE, is one of the panelists at this year's TEGS 2020 expo held in Sharjah and is speaking specifically about the importance of building and running an effective STEAM programme in the UAE.
At the British Council, he is responsible for training English language teachers to seamlessly integrate the latest educational technology into pedagogically sound lessons.
The British Council is particularly focused on driving the future skills agenda forward within the region, coming up with innovative ways to combine creativity and technology in educational resources through its teaching centres and unique programmes.
"The success of Colin's use of educational technology to develop valuable 21st century skills has been recognised as an example of teaching excellence by both the Ministry of Education in the UAE and across the British Council's global network, said the Director of English Language Services, British Council UAE, Gareth Newman.
Career Utsav
According to the cooperation agreement signed by the Expo Centre and K2 Learning Resources India, the 16th IES is also hosting Career Utsav, one of the biggest higher education and career guidance events of India. Through Career Utsav, a total of 50 Indian universities, colleges and other educational institutions and boarding schools are taking part in the event.
Indian author Chetan Bhagat will be holding an exclusive session for parents on Friday at 4pm, through which he will discuss the role of parents in improving the educational performance of students.
Maryam Al Hashmi, a student from Sharjah attending the fair, said: "This is my first time at the fair and I hope to get into one of the international universities thanks to the fair. I am very much interested in the various scholarship opportunities. However, I wish there would be more US universities in the future. There is only one at the moment."
Indian student Navya Krishnan, a CBSE student from Sharjah, said: "There are so many universities participating. I am looking forward to pursuing engineering in a prestigious institute in India and I am happy that there are at least 50 of them here. It makes the application process much easier." Several students and parents Khaleej Times spoke to said the universities are offering excellent scholarship opportunities.
The biggest show
This year's International Education Show is the biggest ever since its launch, with the participation of nearly 120 educational and academic institutions from 20 countries including the US, the UK, Malaysia, Jordan, Lebanon, India, Poland and Cyprus.
The show that will conclude on Friday is open to students, parents and the general public from 9am to 2pm and 5pm to 9pm today Thursday, while the timings on Friday will be from 3pm to 9pm. Entry and parking are free.
Source: Khaleej Times