Thousands show up at EU education fair

MANILA, Philippines — The European Higher Education Fair 2105 held over the weekend attracted a total of 2,423 students, researchers and academicians which was more than last year's figure of 1,746.

Mattias Lentz, chargé d’affaires of the EU Delegation to the Philippines said the continuing information campaign of the EU Delegation, the EU member states embassies and cultural institutes coupled with the increasing number of bilateral academic partnerships and exchanges between the Philippines and European Higher Education Institutions led to the increasing enthusiasm of Filipino academic interlocutors to pursue higher education studies in European Union.

Minella Alarcon, chief of the Commission on Higher Education, said that her agency joins the European Union in ensuring that "quality, mobility and innovation" are achieved when Filipinos pursue their graduate studies courses.

She said that the European Higher Education Fair offers varying options for students wanting to take up their Masters and Ph D programmes in the European Union member states.

In this Nov. 7, 2015 photo, EU delegation and Philippine education officials welcome participants to the European Higher Education Fair 2015. "We wish all aspiring students the best of luck in their possible studies in Europe and we look forward to future collaborations with the universities and partners!" the European Union delegation in the Philippines says in a statement.

Lentz and Alarcon were joined by Ambassadors Jan Top Christensen (Denmark), Luis Calvo (Spain), Marion Derckx (Netherlands) and other diplomats and officials who inaugurated the European Higher Education Fair on Nov. 7, 2015  in Makati City. 

The fair was open to the public from 12:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. With the theme "Quality. Mobility. Innovation", 27 European Higher Education Institutions from 12 European Union Member States  participated  in the Fair.

The main goal of the fair was to give Filipino students the opportunity to find out more about the endless academic opportunities offered by European Universities and to get immediate and direct answers from their representatives who have traveled all the way from Europe.

Participating universities included: (Belgium) – University of Antwerp; (Czech Republic) – Masaryk University, Mendel Uniersity; (Denmark) – Zealand Institute of Business and Technology; (France) – Cordon bleu, KEDGE Business School, Montepellier Business School, Network "n+1"; (Germany) – WHU – Otto Beisheim School of Management; (Hungary) – Central European University; (Ireland) – University College Cork; (Italy) – Accademia di Belle Arti L.A.B.A., Istituto Marangoni, Universita Cattolica del Sacro Cuore; (The Netherlands) – IHS – Erasmus University; International Institute of Social Studies; TIAS School for Business and Society; (Spain) – IE Business School, SENAI, UCAM Universidad Catolica; San Antonioi de Murcia; (Sweden) – KTH Royal Insitute of Technology; (United Kingdom) – Astrum Education, BPP University; HUlt International Business School, Queen Mary University of London, University of Sunderland, University of West London.  

The five biggest EU cultural institutes— Goethe-Institut Philippinen, Alliance Française de Manille, Instituto Cervantes de Manila, Istituto Dante Alighieri and the Philippine Italian Association—also  participated in  the fair to provide information  about European languages to Filipino students.

Presentations on study and mobility opportunities from embassies and universities from the European Commission, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Netherland, Spain, Sweden and United Kingdom were also held.

Partners of the European Higher Education Fair 2015 included Philstar.com, ANC and Business Mirror.