Aspirations Education,the international career guidance and student placement service centre in Sri Lanka recently announced the launch of a premier International Education exhibition hosted from July 9-10 at Ceylon Continental Hotel, Colombo and July 12 at Queen's Hotel, Kandy. Below are the excerpts of an interview conducted with Mr. Ajith Abeysekera Chairman, Mrs. Daphne Abeysekera Managing Director who count more than 12 years of experience counselling over 12,000 students and General Manager, Deepamala Abeysekera at Aspirations Education.

Mr. Ajith Abeysekera Chairman, Mrs. Daphne Abeysekera Managing Director and Ms. Deepamala Abeysekera General Manager, Aspiration Education elaborating about "Forward March 2011"

Q: Tell us about the "Forward March" international education exhibition
"The Forward March 2011" is a global education exhibition organized by Aspirations Education for the 5th consecutive year. The exhibition will open avenues for Sri Lankan students to gain international education through 40 prominent universities and institutes in Australia, UK, New Zealand, USA, Canada, Malaysia, India and Singapore. Furthermore the international education exhibition is catered to students in the age group of 16 and above for undergraduate level; and students currently reading or completed a bachelor's degree or a professional qualification for postgraduate level. It is one of a kind offering individual attention and direct engagement with global representation from many top universities and institutes.

Q: When and where is the exhibition held?
This year's exhibition is hosted from July 9-10 at Ceylon Continental Hotel, Colombo and July 12 at Queen's Hotel, Kandy. Our Chief Guest is Prof Amunugama, the Vice Chancellor of Kelaniya University. Many students and parents are not well informed of the opportunities available to them in the case of not meeting the entry requirements of the local universities mainly due to lack of placement capacity. It is in this light that Aspirations Education decided to take the second leg of the International Education Exhibition to Kandy. All our services to students are offered absolutely free of charge and entrance to the education exhibition is also free.

Q: We heard that some universities are giving special offers for students submitting their applications.
For students who apply within a week from the completion of the event University of Canberra will award a A$2000 scholarship; there will be Application Fee Waiver for Monash University Malaysia Campus; MIBT would award book vouchers worth of $500; Swinburne University Malaysia Campus will conduct Ipod Shuffles for Applicants who apply within two weeks; Nilai University would offer USB drives and many more benefits from others such as application fee waivers. Because of the relationship that Aspirations Education has maintained with universities over a period of time and because of the quality of students we have channeled to them, they have been happy to give special offers to students who qualify to meet the standards set by the universities, if they submit their applications during the exhibition. Nottingham Trent University will give 2000 GBP scholarships.

Q: How would students in Sri Lanka benefit through this exhibition?
Students from diverse social, economic, educational, and geographical backgrounds will experience a diverse range of study opportunities. They will also have the chance to interact with international representatives and experience first-hand information about the courses of study, free of charge visa guidance, scholarship options, application fee waive off options, on the spot offer letters providing admission to the respective university and much more offers from the international universities and more incentives, which is key for students and parents. Genuine career guidance that gives a light to the life of the student is the need of the hour and we are our humbly happy and proud that our organization has been able to live up to it every second. This annual exhibition we are holding for the 5th consecutive year is yet another milestone in the service we have been rendering.

Q: How is "Forward March" different from the rest of the exhibitions out there?
Our core business model is providing career guidance and counselling services to students who wish to pursue their education overseas. The Aspirations Education International Exhibition is one of the largest international education exhibitions in the country. There are other exhibitions which are country specific and exhibitions where foreign universities are represented along with other local education providers. This is unique as only foreign universities and institutes are present and students can meet universities from multiple countries and continents on one stage. It is a platform for students who think of education overseas to come and explore a variety of opportunities , comparing and contrasting the different options available to them world over.

Q: Why did you decide in organizing an event of this magnitude?
Our core business is international education and so we have a mandate to educate the public at large about opportunities available to them in the international sphere in global education. Accurate information that will not mislead the public is vital in this digital age and we have to play our part in it as disseminators.

Q: Aspirations launches the Postgraduate Opportunity Hub first time in Sri Lanka?
Yes. This year we create a platform for postgraduate students to interact directly with academics and establishments world renowned. The online postgraduate portal was launched at this exhibition on July 9 with video conference sessions and webinars using cutting edge technology to connect with the academics overseas. Students can now register their interest with us to avail the benefits at the launch in their preferred study area and connect with the academics direct through logging on to www.aspirations.edu.lk/postgraduate.

Our Postgarduate Hub has partnered top notch institutes in the calibre of the University of Sheffield, University of Liverpool ,Newcastle University which are a part of the Russell Group of Universities in UK and Monash University, a group eight university and Macquarie University, Griffith University, University of Wollongong which are ranked among the top 15 Australian Universities ,University of Canterbury New Zealand which is rated among the top 200 global universities by QS World University Rankings, plus Monash University and University of Nottingham from Malaysia.

Q: How can we get more information about the exhibition?
You can simply log on to www.aspirations.edu.lk our Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/aspirationseducation call on
0777 539 888, reach us on email on info@aspirations.edu.lk or visit us at No. 267/ 20 Samagi Mawatha,
Nawala Road, Nawala.