Mohamed bin Ahmed bin Towar Al Kuwari (second right), First Vice-Chairman, Qatar Chamber , with other officials inaugurating the UniExpo 2019 at DECC, yesterday. Pic: Abdul Basit / The Peninsula
Bringing everything about undergraduate and graduate studies in one place, University Expo (UniExpo) 2019 Qatar kicked off yesterday at the Doha Exhibition and Convention Center.
The two-day event has brought together over 100 local and international higher education institutions from 15 countries and enables students, parents and career professionals to explore a wide range of academic and career opportunities.
The one of its kind UniExpo 2019 was inaugurated by Mohamed bin Ahmed bin Towar Al Kuwari, First Vice-Chairman, Qatar Chamber together with Dr Khalid Al Ali, Undersecretary for Higher Education Affairs at the Ministry of Education and Higher Education; Alan Kelly, Commercial Director, Informa Tharawat; and Dr Khalid Shams Al-Abdulqader, Vice-President, Community College of Qatar.
The dignitaries toured the different pavilions at the UniExpo 2019 which received hundreds of students and parents on the first day.
Building upon the previous editions, UniExpo 2019 includes several new features including an Indian Pavilion participation of 20 universities and increased number universities from the UK and North Cyprus.
A new platform ‘Bienvenue en France- Choose France’ was also launched during the UniExpo 2019 and it aims to promote higher education opportunities in France among the Qatari and expatriate students. “France is aiming to increase the number of foreign students from 300,000 to half a million per year. “We have seen a growing trend in number of students from Qatar studying in France. Through ‘Bienvenue en France- Choose France’ we aim to encourage more students from Qatar to study in France,” Florian Carinaux, Deputy Head of Mission at the French Embassy in Doha told The Peninsula.
He emphasized that all leading French universities teach in English and entrance to a French university is less complicated compared to other countries. Studying in France can financially benefit students because France has subsidization given to universities.
Uniexpo 2019 is organised by Informa Tharawat and held in partnership with the Qatar Chamber (QC), ‘Akhlaquna,’ and The Indian Education Fair. Also the Ministry of Education and Higher education is represented at the expo.
“A varied range of educational institutions have gathered under one roof with 35 new universities participating this year. University life, especially studying abroad can be a new, yet intimidating experience for most students and their parents. That’s why we have designed the expo including seminars and providing information about both academic, lodging and others,” said Kelly.
The UniExpo aimed at students aged 16+, their parents, school counselors, principals, and career advisors, as well as professionals looking to further advance their academic credentials. Countries including the USA, France, UK, Malaysia, Italy, India, Lebanon, Netherlands, Qatar, Oman, Turkey, and North Cyprus are represented at the expo.
“This is our first time to participate the UniExpo in Doha. But we have a long relation with the Indian Diaspora here and many from leading Indian schools in Doha have chosen our engineering and medical programs,” said Archana Nayak, representing Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE) at UniExpo 2019. MAHE is a leading private university in India with over 28,000 students from 57 different countries.
The expo facilitates students and parents to attend more than 20 postgraduate education seminars and meet a number of professionals to receive answers related to studying abroad. UniExpo 2019 is open from 8am – 1pm and 5pm - 9pm today.
