About a dozen years ago, schools salesman Sanjeev Bolia, then 21 and academically equipped with a modest B.Com degree from St. Xaviers College, Kolkata took a momentous decision. He decided to stop hunting for a job. “I faced a problem that frustrates millions of youth in this country and decided to start doing my own thing,” he recalls. Scanning the socio-economic horizon, he identified education as a high-potential growth area of the economy. This led to the promotion in 1994 of a proprietoral firm with the somewhat curious name of Afairs with a mission to stage fairs and exhibitions which would serve as marketing platforms for schools and education institutions across the country. Afairs’ very first education exhibition was held in Kolkata in 1994 and its broad theme was computer education. “It was a hit, though it didn’t make any money,” admits Bolia. Ten years down the road it’s a different story. Afairs organises 20 education exhibitions or fairs every year. Looking back, schools salesman Sanjeev Bolia is convinced that his reading of the economy in 1994 was correct. The humble roadshow of 94 has come a long way since. For instance, India & International Premier Schools Exhibition (IIPSE) 2004 held in Delhi and Mumbai were the first school exhibitions of their kind staged in India. They attracted several top-grade international schools including Ecole Mondiale World School, Pathways World School, Starex International School, Podar World School, Prem Tinsulanonda International School, Lawrence School, Sanawar, The Asian School, The Heritage School, Indian Public School, USEFI, British Council, Canadian Education Centre, Singapore Education etc on a common platform. The exhibition was visited by more than 3,000 parents in each city. This year in November-December, Afairs has scheduled a more ambitious IIPSE rotating through six cities — Mumbai, Pune, New Delhi, Kolkata, Ranchi and Patna, in that order. “IIPSE will showcase the finest schools from India and abroad whose represen-tatives will interact directly with parents, giving the latter a huge pile of information on best options for education of their children,” says Bolia. He is particularly encouraged that the highly prestigious CIE- the international examinations board of Cambridge University- is IIPSE’s main sponsor and that EducationWorld is the official magazine for this six-venue travelling exhibition. With 40 million middle class households as his target group, Bolia is confident that the information asymmetry which characterised school choices hitherto, will soon be history. Sujoy Gupta (Kolkata) Also read: Lifteime Achievement in Education Leadership Award 2019: Sanjeev Bolia Science education initiative Internationally renowned outer space scientist and one of the founding fathers of India’s satellite programme, Bangalore-based Prof. U.R. Rao has been appointed chairman of the newly promoted Karnataka State Science and Technology Academy (KSSTA). Inaugurated on September 1, KSSTA is a state government initiative promoted with the objective of modernising and upgrading the quality of life in rural areas through effective utilisation of science and technology. The governing committee of the KSSTA comprises 21 members including the director of the science and technology department as member-secretary, and representatives from four…
