Eight British universities from all regions of the United Kingdom are present at the education fair organised by the British Council. Among them, some famous ones like Cardiff, Kent, London Metropolitan and Middlesex. This fair will be on until tomorrow from 9 am till 3 pm. Each university has its representative to explain and to give information about its facilities, such as subjects offered, application proce- dures, living conditions and fees.

Apart from those eight stands, there is one for the South East Asian Bank, a co-sponsor of the fair. It will give information to those who need loans to finance their studies abroad. ?It is not always easy to find funds if you are going to study in England. We are here to help those people who need information on how to finance their studies. We even propose to finance their studies at 100% under some conditions?, explained Doodassen Caullee, the project manager of South East Asian Bank.

Most of the representatives arrived last week. Some have already noticed several aspects of our country like the mentalities of the people. Professor Richard Lewis from the faculty of Law of Cardiff University was impressed by the desire of youngsters to learn: ?I have been here only a few days, but already I can see how friendly and eager to study young Mauritians are.? Cardiff is currently rated as the 7th best university in the UK. So far, only one Mauritian student is studying there. But Professor Lewis would really like the number to increase. He says: ?We want Mauritian people to see how good our university is and the facilities it offers.?

Most youngsters came with the aim of interacting with the representatives of the universities. Each representative is assisted by an employee of Campus Abroad to facilitate the interaction. Furthermore, some are not employees, but ex-students of those Universities. The aim of the representatives is to document the youngsters and motivate them to come and study in their university. In other words, youngsters can more easily interact with them. Priya and Vishma, two students from Maurice Curé and Queen Elizabeth College respectively were delighted with the information they got. They said: ?We have always been interested in going abroad. The information we have managed to get on the Internet was not enough. Now that we have seen the university representatives, we feel more confident and more documented.?

Yesterday around 65 students attended. Paul Chellakumar, chairman of all the branches of Campus Abroad, is extremely satisfied. It is the first time a fair has been organized solely for UK universities. According to him, the aim is to promote education in Great Britain. 2,500 Mauritian students study in England every year. According to research, this number increases every year by 15 to 20%. The chairman of the Mauritian branch of Campus Abroad, Ramduth Jaddoo is also pleased with the success of the event.