Moalims

After facilitating more than 300 Pakistani students, the Pakistan-Australian Education Expo 2015 set up their second installment on Sunday, in which 14 Australian universities offered Pakistani students a chance to pursue higher studies abroad.

“The number of students has increased tremendously this time as compared to the previous exhibitions,” said Australian Education Office (AEO) Pakistan chief executive officer and resident director, Saad Mehmood. He also pointed out that they are expecting more than 500 students to avail the walk-in opportunity to fulfil their dreams of studying in Australia. Every year, more than 300 students fly to Australia from Pakistan through AEO Pakistan for higher education, mostly in the fields of engineering and business studies.

“We are providing a platform for students and are motivating them to pursue their degrees abroad,” said Mehmood. He also said that they help students in every possible manner, from the procedure of applying to universities and visa application to IELTS, courses and accommodation details.

According to Mehmood, in the last 28 exhibitions conducted by the AEO in Karachi, the number of students applying every year has increased. He said that a majority of students go for postgraduate studies. He added that he hoped to see the number of female students increase as they are ‘more competent, intelligent and promising than males’.

At the entrance, the applicants were required to fill the ‘student assessment form’, providing their basic educational and personal details. The student assessment form helps the volunteers guide students about the desk he/she should move to in order to meet consultants for further assistance. If the desk finds the applicant eligible, they will give her/him two more forms to fill. One of these is a curriculum vitae and the other is a list of documents required for further processing of the application. “If the student is looking for a specific university and we do not have their stall here, he can take help from [the] desk dealing with the universities of Australia,” said AEO IT coordinator Shahid Raza.

Fizza Amir from Nixor College came to the expo with the hope of finding a good university in Australia for her undergraduate studies. “This is a better option than searching on the internet as you get many options under one roof,” said Amir, who is looking for a university that offers undergraduate programmes in science subjects.

Another student, Fahadullah, who has graduated from Karachi University, said he wished to go for a Masters in Economics from the University of Melbourne. “After seeing my seniors, I also want to go for a Masters in Economics,” he said. “But I will come back to Pakistan to serve my country.”

Belief in Pakistan’s talent

Melbourne Institute of Technology marketing consultant Janet Mountseer was of the view that Pakistani students are strong and capable of learning. “We believe in Pakistani students and their talent, which is why we come here every year,” she said, adding that she has been working with Pakistani students for a long time. She appreciated the idea of the expo as its helps interact with the students.

Dr Chris Daly of the University of New South Wales (UNSW) also shared his experience with The Express Tribune of working with international students during the last 28 years. “We have more than 30 per cent international students in UNSW, of which a couple of 100 are from Pakistan,” he added. He also said that a majority of students go to Australia for pursuing Masters in Engineering.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 31st, 2015.