Cyprus International "Education and Career" exhibition 2020
It is with great joy and excitement that Emphasys Centre participated in the Cyprus International “Education and Career” Exhibition 2020, which took place at the Cyprus International Fair grounds in Nicosia.
The “Education and Career” Exhibition was organised between the 7th and the 9th of February 2020 by The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports and Youth of Cyprus, the Cyprus Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI), the Cyprus Employers and Industrialists Federation (ΟΕΒ) and the European Office of Cyprus (EOC), in cooperation with the British Council Cyprus.
One of the largest events of the field of education in Cyprus, the EduFair 2020 featured prominent educational organisations from across the world. More than 150 private and public universities, colleges and other higher education institutions and public authorities attended the exhibition, aiming to attract students and create connections and synergies with other organisations. In addition to the educational institutions, public services, semi-state bodies, as well as career and educational counselling professionals also attend the Fair yearly, to provide the public with information on potential career and employment paths.
Notably, the Fair was attended by people of all ages and walks of life. The majority of attendees were high-school students in search of their undergraduate studies programme, although people of older ages were also strongly present. From business men with long-standing careers abroad who are looking to establish themselves in Cyprus, to people in their 50s who have not yet recovered from the economic crisis and remain unemployed to this day, to internationals who lack language skills to establish themselves in the Cyprus labour market, to retirees looking to catch up with the technology of a world that is constantly moving forward, the Fair is truly seen as a gateway to opportunity, education and professional and personal success.
Emphasys Centre was honoured to participate in the Exhibition, with a two-fold aim:
– to present the educational programmes and career services provided to not only young people and students, but also to adults, such as the ECDL and STEAM courses, and
– to present the involvement of the Research Department in the preparation, coordination and implementation of European Research Programmes, mainly under the Erasmus+ Programme, in all sectors: School, VET, Adult Education and Youth.
During the Education and Career fair, a time slot was dedicated to the Connected Learning project, where interested youth workers and young people were invited to our booth to learn more. The Emphasys team informed those present about the project’s aims, products and expected outcomes of the project being developed, as well as the opportunities arising for free training.
The One Stop Support Centre set up at the EduFair attracted the attention of quite a few young people in search of opportunities to assess and upgrade their digital and employability competences. The onsite workshops organised provided excellent opportunities to potential participants to register, create their profiles and get the basic information about the programmes.
Another important aspect was the Steam Unit set up at the EduFair. A wide selection of robots (Edison, Lego Boost, Lego Mindstorms, Arduino) was available for interested people to experiment with. Young people had the opportunity to explore the 3D printer and view the designs on display. Similarly, the VR section attracted a lot of interest from attendees.
Several important stakeholders, key people and official bodies, as well as parents, young people, teachers, VET trainers, youth workers and many others visited Emphasys’ booth and were informed about the Connected Learning project. Among them, the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports and Youth Mr. Prodromos Prodromou, the President of the European Office of Cyprus and Vice-Rector of the Nicosia University Dr Constantinos Phellas, the Vice-President of the Cyprus Computer Society Mr Andreas Loutsios, as well as lecturers from Frederick and European Universities.
Overall, the “Education and Career” Exhibition 2020 presented a wonderful opportunity for the dissemination of the Connected Learning@YW project, to a large number of interested people (estimated to be more than 10,000 based the official announcement of the organising bodies).
For more information, you can visit the project’s Facebook page or Emphasys Centre’s website.