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India top names participate in education fair

A two-day educational fair Knowledge Forum 2003, showcasing some of India's most prestigious schools and professional training colleges, was inaugurated by Sunny Varkey, Chairman of the Varkey Group in Dubai, yesterday.

The exhibition, being organised for the fifth time in succession, is aimed at offering a host of educational opportunities to the children of expatriates living in the UAE to enable them to pursue an academic career of their choice. Leading Indian educational institutions from Bangalore, Manipal, Mumbai, Pune, Chennai and Delhi are participating in the event.

Speaking at the inaugural function, Mr Varkey lauded the quality of educational facilities being made available in India and said that exhibition of this nature would help "in raising awareness about the educational institutions, helping NRI parents and their wards to make informed career choices."

He also observed that the exhorbitant fees charged by some educational institutions for NRI students was unfair, since "NRI parents had to put in as much effort in raising the money for their wards' education."

The Knowledge Forum, earlier known as the Indian Education Show, is an annual event, sponsored by Khaleej Times and is much awaited by the students. The strategic timing of the fair, just before students finish their secondary education in the Gulf, has added to the success of the event that has grown from strength to strength in the last five years.

The fourth edition last year evoked a popular response with more than 5,000 visitors visiting and inspecting the facilities at the Indian educational institutions. This year, the numbers are likely to be much more.

Among the institutions that are participating in the exhibition are Anjuman-e-Islam, which was founded in 1874 by the late Justice Badruddin Tyabji, one of the founders of the Indian National Congress and the second Chief Justice of India. Anjuman runs 82 educational and social institutions in the state of Maharashtra.

It has over 80,000 students studying at various institutions run by the institute. President of the group, M. Ishaaq Jamkhanawala, said that he was "encouraged by the response that the Knowledge Forum has evoked and believed that it would lend greater visibility to the institution particularly among the students in the UAE."

ÔGarden City' Bangalore, which has a large number of NRI students including foreign students from 17 countries has provided state-of-the-art facilities in bio-technology, genetics and microbiology. Eminent educationist, Dr Joseph V.G., from the Garden City, said that there were a whole range of other programmes like an entertainment resort for hotel mangement and a tie-up with a leading newspaper for the benefit of the journalism students.

The P.A College of Engineering that has been awarded the ISO 9001-2000 accreditation is a self financing engineering institution in Mangalore with a 15 per cent quota for the NRI students. Among the courses that are on offer here are Computer Science and Engineering, Information Science and Engineering, Electronics and Communication Engineering and telecommunication Engineering. The Indus International School, based in Bangalore, is set to open its doors to a large number of Indian as well as foreign students this year. Operated by the Indus Trust with Lt. Arjun Ray as the Chief Executive Officer, the co-educational school offers both the International Baccalaureate and the ICSE syllabi and is prepared to create innovative leaders of tomorrow.

Featuring prominently among the other participants are Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Bangalore, Sri Ramachandra Dental College and Hospital in Porur Chennai, Jagadguru Sri Shivaratheeshwara Mahavidyapeetha Chennai, JSS College of Pharmacy in Ooty, Kohinoor IMI School of Hospitality Management, Mody Institute of Education and Research in Sikar, Rajasthan providing secondary as well as higher educational opportunities for women and Orbit Educational and Research Foundation, Bangalore. The event is being organised by Mediascope Publicitas and Integrated Advertising Services.

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