Expo to be the biggest in territory
VISITORS to this year's Education and Career Expo will find the event larger in scale with more exhibitors participating, whether local or overseas, private or government.
The Education and Career Expo '93, the biggest of its kind in the territory, is the second one jointly organised by the Hongkong Trade Development Council (TDC) and the Labour Department.
More than 180 exhibitors, among which 70 are from overseas, will set up 225 booths to display information on careers and local and overseas education during the four-day fair.
The overseas education pavilion will house 81 overseas universities and colleges from Australia, Canada, the United States, United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland, Switzerland, Japan, Macau, Taiwan, and Australia.
Local representatives include universities, polytechnics, colleges, professional schools, technical institutes, institutes offering language and distance learning programmes, and institutes offering further education and adult education programmes.
The Chinese University and the Hongkong Polytechnic, which are celebrating their 30th and 20th anniversaries, respectively, will join the exhibition for the first time.
Besides information about education opportunities, 18 government departments and 45 private enterprises and professional associations in Hongkong will introduce career opportunities to graduating students and the working public.
They are the Labour Department, Intellectual Property Department, Civil Services Branch, Hospital Authority, Royal Hongkong Police Force, TVB, China Light, Kowloon Motor Bus and Excelsior Hotel.
Mr Stephen Mak Ka-wing, TDC senior manager (exhibitions), said the trade fair would benefit both graduating students and working adults.
''Some people think that these exhibitions are only for graduating students who are busy thinking about their future,'' he said.
''But in fact, they are good for working adults who are looking for new jobs or in-service studying. They can talk to the representatives face to face, join seminars and watch videos. It is a good opportunity of self-evaluation and understanding.'' Mr Mak said nearly 80 sessions of careers and education seminars would be organised by Hongkong Telecom, Royal Hongkong Police Force, Chinese University of Hongkong and Hongkong Polytechnic.
There will be display boards featuring the Labour Department's career quiz. The quiz has received a very good response with a record participation of over 130,000 students from 285 secondary schools.
Mr Mak expects the exhibition to attract over 160,000 visitors, most of whom will be students. More than 100 secondary schools have arranged student group visits with the help of the Labour Department.
The exhibition runs from Thursday to Sunday at the Hongkong Convention and Exhibition Centre. It is open to public. Admission is free.
