One of the stalls at the UK education exhibition. Picture by UB Photos

Nov. 28: A fresh graduate, 22-year-old Samir Barua’s flushed face and twinkling eyes said it all.

At the end of the two-day “Study in the UK” exhibition organised by the British Council at a city hotel today, Barua and other participants found that given the opportunity, even “dreams could be shaped”.

Ten education consultants and companies representing more than 50 universities of the UK met students who are planning to go to the UK for higher studies to inform them about the options available in various courses.

“Getting first-hand information about studies in the UK right here in the city was a good experience,” said Samir. Others said such exhibitions should be a regular feature.

Several myths, like “education in the UK is very expensive”, were exploded at the exhibition. “I learnt that one can choose from a wide array of MBA courses that will suit every pocket and that a Masters degree can be acquired in one year,” said Poonam Kakoti, another fresh graduate.

There are more than 20,000 post-graduate courses offered by the universities in the UK. Post-graduation courses in Britain are intensive and the courses are relatively short — usually nine months to two years.

Apart from getting information on the different universities at one place, those who flocked to the exhibition learnt that one could supplement one’s income by working part time upto 20 hours a week.

An official of the British Council here expressed happiness with the response the exhibition evoked and said the council was sanguine that students from the Northeast would go to the UK in greater numbers from next year.

At present, traffic from the Northeast is only 10 per cent of the students who go to the UK from the East.

“We have been receiving regular queries from Guwahati and Shillong on higher education opportunities in the UK. Therefore, we thought it was better for us to come here and personally meet many of those who have been calling us,” Victor Rao, assistant manager, education UK, British Council, said.

Kaushik Barua of Canam Consultants Limited, which has an office here, said most of the students were inquiring about MBA and computer science courses. “So far we have been able to send seven students of whom one was a PhD student,” he added.

Universities represented at the exhibition were Hertfordshire, Sussex, Heriot-Watt and Aston among others.

Seminars were also held on Study in the UK, Information on International English Language Testing System (IELTS), Professional and Linguistic Assessment Board (PLAB) and Managed Learning.

An official of PSP Media (India) Private Limited said the quality of education in the UK is very high and the amount of money spent would ensure good returns in three years’ time after getting a job.