Pathfinder Education Fair amidst conflict draws attention and appreciation from students and schools in Churachandpur

Amidst the unresolved conflict in the state of Manipur, Pathfinder Education Fair organised by Pathfinder Education, a student counselling centre in Churachandpur district has drawn the attention and appreciation from students and schools in the district.

The education fair organised at EBC Centenary Hall in Churachandpur saw participants from representatives of top educational institutions and universities in the country, providing an opportunity for the students in the district to have a face to face conversation with representatives of different educational institutions.

The brainchild behind the Education Fair organised especially for students of class 8 to 12 is Thangboi Chongloi, Director and Academic Counsellor of Pathfinder Education based in Hiangtam Lamka in Churachandpur district of Manipur.

He is of the view that many students do not have a proper plan for their future studies and many of them ending up choosing wrong path or subject without guidance and counselling.

Speaking to The Hills Journal, Thangboi said students who have had a bright education background, mainly from well to do families often choose medical and engineering stream for their future studies.

However, there are also students who blindly follow the path of such friends without knowing their own interest and ended up wasting many years without a fruitful achievements.

As such, the fair has been organised to provide the students a vast scope of educational lines which they can pursue, depending upon their interest, he added.

Thangboi said that the turn out of students and schools from the district during the fair has been many amazing and he considers the fair a success.

Sary Hmar, a teacher from Legacy Faith Academy who was present in the fair said," it is a good exposure for the students, they do not have to go out of the district to enquire about different educational institutions now,this is really great"

Christina Haokip, a councellor of Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya said such kind of education fair is important since many students do not know what subjects or professional line they should go for in the future.

She said," Now, they can choose from different options provided by different education institutions".

Christina said that they have to postpone examination in their school so that students can attend the educational fair.

She wish to see many more of such education fair being organised in the future as well.

A teacher of St Mary School Higher Secondary School Nengtinkim Khaute said her students have exposure to different educational institutions through the educational fair.

She said many of her students even changed their aim in life and know different future prospects after attending the fair.

A student from St Mary Higher Secondary Lhingneikim said ," the fair is good for my future studies. Personally, I have no idea earlier about what to choose but now I have gathered different information and it will be easy for me to decide what course I should go for and which educational institution I should contact for that" .

A representative from Lovely Professional University Kshirod Kumar Saikia said education fairs were often organised in the past, before the internet took over.

But now informations of different educational institutions are all available at the finger tip so education fair had been no longer organised regularly.

Saikia said " After 2016, this is the only educational fair organised in the northeast region which I can only recalled"

He said having a personal interaction with representatives of educational institutions provide more trust to the students and they have the opportunity to choose the educational institution of their preference after interacting with many different representatives in the fair.

Owing to the violence in Manipur, Saikia had earlier doubted that there will be very less turn out of students in the fair.

However, after seeing the response from the students and educational institutions in Churachandpur district, Saikia said," the reality is different from what I had imagined. I can see overwhelming response from students".