Strengthening career guidance opportunities

By Kavinda Hettiarachchi

Empowering Sri Lankan youth to be globally competitive Royal College Union with many other prestigious establishments have organized EDEX 2009 - National higher education and careers Expo, which will be held from 23rd to 25th January at BMICH and on 27th and 28th January at Queens Hotel Kandy.

Addressing the media, Rizan Nazeer , Secretary, RCU noted that 131,000 students in our country are eligible to enter university. But only about 12,000 get the chance to enter university. He said the others who are left over are the beneficiaries of their attempts at EDEX. The youth in our country have so much potential, but with the inequalities in the education and employment sector, they have very limited opportunities for progress. They lack proper guidance and direction.

In 2004 Royal College Union stepped into bridge this void with the launch of EDEX by creating the most comprehensive single platform offering the widest possible range of Choices, options and opportunities in higher education, skills development and vocational training leading to gainful employment.

This year EDEX 2009 introduces the concept of "Think Green". It focuses to Educate, Engage and Activate the aspiring Sri Lankan youth to overcome the 'Green Challenges' at hand and embrace the arising 'Green Opportunities. Water, Food, Energy, Transport and Waste will be the Green focus of EDEX 2009 . 'GREEN Zone' will bring together Exhibitors, Individuals and Corporate entities and Public Authorities to exhibit and showcase their green initiatives, products, services, technological innovations, skills development and employment opportunities leading to sustainable living. 'GREEN ZONE' at EDEX 2009 will bring together the some of the best of local sustainable initiatives under one roof. Here concepts such as green environment, green food, green energy and green behaviour will be show cased with the firm belief that the future will be shaped by 'green coloured' workers, those who are environmentally conscious and understand the importance of this green revolution.

The solitary twin mega exhibition in Sri Lanka EDEX 2009 will have over 30 stalls for an expected 100,000 visitors, with representatives from over 15 countries, with the presence of higher education institutes, foreign universities, career guidance and novel concepts to promote the opportunities available to the masses of students, school leavers, under graduates and parents who seek guidance on education and employment.

In professional and technical training category a large number of institutes such as Accounting, Marketing and management bodies, Maritime schools, Hospitality Management, Fashion Design Schools , Aviation Schools , Fine art academies, Computer studies and vocational training institutions will be present at EDEX.

The virtual EDEX platform www.edex.lk was launched with the intention of reaching out to the rural youth of this country who often lack the resources to make it to the exhibition. It offers the opportunity where the CVs can be filed and accessed by the corporate entities participating in EDEX

EDEX 2009 is endorsed by the Presidential Secretariat, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Vocational and Technical Training and ministry of Labour Relations and Mon power. The Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, the American Chamber of Commerce in Sri Lanka , the Information and Communication Technological Agency and European Chamber of Commerce of Sri Lanka are strategic partners of the event.

Singer Sri Lanka PLC, Brandix Lanka Ltd and Sri Lanka Telecom will partner as Platinum Sponsors and Esoft Computer Studies will be the Gold Sponsor of the event. NDB will partner as the Official Banker of the event.

Source - The Island - Business ONLINE 08/01/2009

Bigger and better - EDEX 2009 reaches ‘greener’ horizons

January 6th 2009, Colombo – The 6th consecutive edition of EDEX – National higher Education and Careers Expo, will be held from 23rd to 25th Jan at BMICH Colombo and on 27th and 28th January 2009 at Queens Hotel Kandy.

Vision of EDEX is to ‘empower the Sri Lankan youth to be globally competitive’.

The youth in our country have so much potential but with a series of inequalities in the education system and a discouraging environment faced in post secondary education, they have very limited opportunities for progress. They most often lack proper guidance and direction in this arena.

In 2004 the Royal College Union stepped in to bridge this void with the launch of EDEX by creating the most comprehensive single platform offering the widest possible range of Choices, options and opportunities in higher education, skills development and vocational training leading to gainful employment.

The solitary twin mega exhibition in Sri Lanka EDEX 2009 will have over 300 stalls for an expected 100000 visitors, with representatives from over 15 countries, with the presence of higher education institutes, foreign universities, career guidance and novel concepts to promote the opportunities available to the masses of students, school leavers, undergraduates and parents who seek guidance on education and employment.

Over 250 foreign universities represented directly or through their agents from countries such as United States of America, United Kingdom, Australia, Singapore, Russia, Japan, Bangladesh, India, China, Nepal, Switzerland,, France, New Zealand and Malaysia, will provide information on the courses available, requirements for scholarships awarded by them, ‘On site’ spot admissions and advice and guidance on student visas and other relevant information. Several scholarships and special offers await the deserving visitors at the Expo.

In professional and technical training category a large number of institutes such as Accounting, Marketing and Management bodies, Maritime schools, Hospitality Management, Fashion Design Schools, Aviation Schools, Fine art Academies, Computer studies, and Vocational Training Institutions will be present at EDEX.
With the world in chaos and the earth suffering under the strain of humanity, EDEX 2009 has ventured to create a ‘green’ conscious set of youth while providing a dynamic environment to help decide the course of their future. The Exhibition which provides a comprehensive education forum will also focus on the timely ‘Go Green’ and ‘Sustainable Living’ concept encouraging a new breed of ‘green collared’ workers

EDEX 2009, will feature a unique ‘GREEN ZONE’ where the concepts of green environment, green food, green energy and green behavior will be showcased with the firm belief that the future will be shaped by ‘green collared’ workers, those who are environmentally conscious and understand the importance of this green revolution.

In an emerging world of virtual education and opportunities, EDEX has moved with the times to establish a comprehensive web portal providing the opportunities available at the exhibition on a virtual platform. The web resources offered will be of immense benefit to the Sri Lankan youth including students as well as educators.

The virtual EDEX platform www.edex.lk was launched with the intention of reaching out to the rural youth of this country who often lack the resources to make it to the exhibition. It offers the opportunity where CVs can be filed and accessed by the corporate entities participating in EDEX.

EDEX is organized by the Royal College Union and formally endorsed by the Presidential Secretariat, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Labor Relations and Manpower, Ministry of Vocational and Technical Training.

Platinum Sponsors for the event are Singer, Brandix, SLT and Gold Sponsors ESoft. NDB is the Official Banker and EDEX is supported by the Strategic Partnership of Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, ICTA, AMCHAM and European Chamber of Commerce.
Visit www.edex.lk for further details or contact EDEX Secretariat, Royal College Union, Rajakeeya Mawatha Colombo 7. Tel 5521497, Fax 2683100, e mail info@edex.lk Contact Person Madhawa.

Chairman speech

Transcript of the speech made by Kamal Abeysinghe Chairman, EDEX Expo 2009 at the Press Conference held on 6th January, 2009 – Contact No 0777 769955 for further details

Members of the Head table, Representatives of media institutions, distinguished invitees, Ladies and Gentlemen.

As I stand up to speak, the general expectation is that the global crisis that has emerged affecting all of us in several frontiers such as food, energy, environment, effects of climate change and financial meltdown to name a few, can only get worse before getting any better.

In this process, whist many jobs are being lost globally, many new jobs are also being created – especially Green Jobs - as we learnt just a while ago.

We firmly believe that right education and skills are essentially needed, to face these numerous challenges unfolding in the 21st century. This is where we need to, especially focus on our youth and prepare them to be confident and competitive young adults.

The youth in our country have so much potential. But with cycles of inequalities in the education system and a discouraging environment faced in post secondary education, they have very limited opportunities for progress. Most of them lack proper guidance and direction in this arena.

In 2004 the Royal College Union stepped in to bridge this void, with the launch of EDEX by creating the most comprehensive single platform offering the widest possible range of Choices, options and opportunities in higher education, skills development and vocational training leading to gainful employment. This has now become the annual social responsibility project of the Royal College Union.

EDEX Expo which is also the solitary twin mega exhibition in Sri Lanka, will feature over 300 stalls this year, representing higher education institutes and foreign universities from over 15 countries.

Over 250 foreign universities represented directly or through their agents from countries such as United States of America, United Kingdom, Australia, Singapore, Russia, Japan, Bangladesh, India, China, Nepal, Switzerland,, France, New Zealand and Malaysia, will provide information on the courses available, Spot admissions, advice and guidance on student visas and other relevant information.

Several scholarships and special offers too await the deserving visitors at the Expo.

They will also offer career as well as higher education guidance and novel concepts to promote the opportunities available to the masses of students, school leavers, undergraduates and parents who seek guidance on education, training and employment.

In professional and technical training category a large number of institutes such as Accounting, Marketing and Management bodies, Maritime schools, Hospitality Management, Fashion Design Schools, Aviation Schools, Fine art Academies, Computer studies and Vocational Training institutions will be present at EDEX.

Living in a planet in peril, this year we have ventured to introduce ‘THINK GREEN’ concept aiming at creating a ‘green’ conscious set of youth in the midst of their academic and career aspirations, as sustainable living is not an option; but an absolute imperative.

Colombo leg of the Expo will feature a unique ‘GREEN ZONE’ where the concepts of green education and skills will be showcased with the firm belief that the future will be shaped by ‘green collar’ workers. Given the right knowledge and skills we believe that our youth will be able to take timely advantage of the emerging Green revolution.

In an emerging world of virtual education and opportunities, we have also moved with the times to establish a comprehensive web portal providing the opportunities available at the exhibition on a virtual platform. The web resources offered will be of immense benefit to the Sri Lankan youth including students as well as educators.

The virtual EDEX platform www.edex.lk was launched with the intention of reaching out to the rural youth of this country who often lack the resources to make it to the exhibition. It offers the opportunity to any job seeker to file a CV online, which will be subsequently considered by, several corporate entities participating in EDEX Expo.

This is a glimpse of what we have lined up for the benefit of Sri Lankan youth at EDEX Expo this year. Despite rising costs in organizing this event, this year too we continue to offer free admission to all visitors. We expect over 100,000 young visitors at both venues.

We wish to warmly invite Sri Lankan youth, their parents as well as teachers who guide the destinies of Sri Lankan students to visit EDEX Expo. You will probably find numerous life-shifting Choices, Options and Opportunities of value at EDEX 2009 Expo.

Thank you.