IDP Sri-Lanka hosted an Australian education exhibition on the 8th and 9th of September 2012. The exhibition was declared open by the First Secretary of Immigration of the Australian High Commission, Mrs. Sonya Boylan. In her opening address, Mrs. Boylan communicated the new student visa regulations and made parents and students aware of the benefits [...]

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The Sundaytimes Sri Lanka

IDP Australian Education exhibition concludes on a high note

Joanne Kotelawala
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IDP Sri-Lanka hosted an Australian education exhibition on the 8th and 9th of September 2012. The exhibition was declared open by the First Secretary of Immigration of the Australian High Commission, Mrs. Sonya Boylan. In her opening address, Mrs. Boylan communicated the new student visa regulations and made parents and students aware of the benefits students are set to gain from the new regulations.

The event drew in a staggering three-thousand five hundred visitors and saw over a thousand students applying to the universities of their choice. Mr. Erath Karunaratne, Country Director of IDP, said “this was the first major exhibition we hosted since the end of the conflict in Sri Lanka and the foreign delegates and university representatives were particularly impressed with the rapid development of Sri Lanka; they were also happy to see a very high calibre of students attend the event. We had many post graduate applicants as well”.
The IDP education exhibition had 23 educational institutions in participation, this included fifteen universities. Five of the universities represented at the exhibition are currently listed in the top 100 universities in the world. Mr. Karunaratne added, “The great thing about this event was that over 90% of the representatives were from the university itself. Parents and students were particularly pleased about this, where they were interacting directly with an official representative of the university. Students also had the opportunity to discuss the details of their education options”.

In preparing such an event, IDP also aimed to see an exchange of knowledge taking place between Australia and Sri Lanka. In keeping with this goal, the foreign delegates visited and held discussions with a few universities in Sri Lanka that also brought about discussions on the possibility of hosting visiting lecturers “this is exactly what we need. The exchange of knowledge can open doors to a number of possibilities and this plays a significant role in the path to development. This is also a less expensive means of gaining access to an international education” added Mr.Karunarathne.

Mr. Karunarathne further spoke of the possibility of events such as this resulting in student exchange programmes in the future, thus ensuring a bilateral exchange of knowledge and skills. “in choosing the universities that attended the exhibition, we ensured that we had recognised technical schools in addition to the well established academic schools”.

Speaking further on the success of the education exhibition Mr. Karunaratne added “It was great to see the participation of Australia and Sri Lankan students, parents and academics alike at the event. I am happy to state that eight post-graduate scholarships and four undergraduate scholarships were offered to students at the event”.

Mr.Karunaratne said “With the changes to the Australian student visa regulations, an international quality education is made more accessible. We should be thankful to the current Sri Lankan students in Australia who have done everything the correct way and cleared the path for future students”.

The main goal of IDP is to guide students who are applying to study in Australia. Located in over 29 countries, IDP offices worldwide strive to offer students advice about studying in Australia, and guide them through the application and enrollment procedure. “IDP maintains a strong relationship with the Australian High Commission, thus we are able to give our clients the best and the correct advice when it comes to visa application. This is reflected in the fact that since 2010, no student who has gone through IDP has been rejected for their visa. This is an achievement that we are all very proud of” said Mr. Karunaratne.




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