Hundreds throng Australian education exhibition

Hundreds of students from the various universities in the country yesterday trooped to the Movenpick Ambassador Hotel in Accra to participate in the first-ever Australian education exhibition in Ghana and in West Africa.
Organised by the Australian Trade Commission in Ghana, the event was intended to attract more African students to study in Australia in a bid to diversify its international relations and to also boost the Australian economy.

Officials of 17 universities in Australia attended the exhibition.

Good universities

Speaking to the Daily Graphic, the Trade Commissioner of the Australian Trade Commission, Mr Gordon Chakaodza, said apart from the provision of alternative educational opportunities to African students, the event was also to introduce Australian universities to Africa.
He said in recent times, many students had opted to go to the United Kingdom, the United States of America or Canada to study “but there are also many good universities in Australia.”
“For instance, If you want to study the mining business or the oil and gas business, we believe there is no better place to do it than Australia. There is a huge mining industry and a large oil and gas sector in the country,’’he said.

Affordability

Mr Chakaodza said though there was no limit to the number of students who would want to attend an Australian university; it was only for those who could afford it, saying “if you have a scholarship or can afford to pay we will be glad to see more students.”
He said the cost of education in a university ranged from $15,000 to $30,000 Australian dollars every year but most student visas would allow a student to work up to 40 hours every two weeks and unrestricted hours during any scheduled course break.

Expectations

On his expectations from the exhibition, Mr Maxwell Akonde, a 24-year-old former biology student and a Research Assistant of the School of Allied Health Sciences, said he was satisfied with the guidance provided by the Australian universities on the courses he wanted to study.
He expressed the hope that he would be offered a scholarship after applying to one of the universities.