Michael Dias saw an advertisement in the paper announcing the arrival of Air Hostess Academy in Calcutta. At The Telegraph Careergraph Live Career Fair last month, he signed up for a course in aviation and hospitality management. The former student of St Thomas Boys School is planning to tackle the year-long course along with a BA correspondence degree from Indira Gandhi National Open University and a part-time job.

Michael has company while choosing a career path off the beaten track. The road less travelled is now crowded with his peer group making the transition from school to college.

And dearth of choice is not a problem plaguing students when it comes to courses and campuses. Not when their range of options includes medical degrees in Russia or China, management or IT diplomas in Canada or Singapore. Not with US and UK universities starting up campuses in Mumbai and Calcutta and vocational courses like jewellery designing and animation being available in the city itself. Then there are traditional favourites like English, law or economics, at a JU or a Xaviers, in Oxford or Cambridge.

An explosion of new courses and institutes in the city, around the country and abroad adds up to a win-win situation for students ? provided they know what they are going in for, how and why.

Making the right choice is not as easy as it sounds, with the biggest hurdle being the lack of guidance and qualified counsellors, resulting in confusion, say those in the know. ?Students should avoid getting swayed by the glitz and glamour and stick to the facts,? feels Snigdha Gohain, a Calcutta-based career counsellor.

Holistic help is often at hand at the admission and career fairs galore trundling through town, peddling education dreams and promising practical means to make them come true.

?Education is big business,? says Sanjeev Bolia, CEO, Afairs, organiser of the Admissions Fair, being held at the Ice Skating Rink till June 20. Bolia has been organising education fairs for the past 14 years. The Admission Fair is the second one for Afairs this year, with the Career Fair held in May and the promise of ?several more? in the coming months.

?A big chunk of outstation students, particularly in south India, is from Bengal. So the number of institutions participating in the fair has gone up substantially. Last year, there were about 20 from Karnataka; this time there are 40,? adds Bolia.

The four-day Career Fair had a footfall of 15,000, and a similar figure is expected for this one, with spot admissions to institutes home and abroad being the star attraction.

April 17. The University Grants Commission (UGC) is a showcase for select academic programs offered by the Cochin University of Science and Technology (Cusat) Salons education must take place in no less than seven Asian and African countries in May as part of his promotion to a more Training abroad (PIHEAD).

Cusat had a detailed list of the recent progress in this fair to the Commission.

The education system organizes exhibitions of the UGC in collaboration with the Educational Consultants of India Ltd (EDCIL), Iran, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kenya, Mauritius, Tanzania and Malaysia. Foreign students attending education fairs in these countries, it is necessary for admission to Cusat sources said.

Cusat is the only State University, to be selected to participate in the program PIHEAD. Cusat had proposed short-term 36 new courses for participation in education fairs abroad must take place in the coming months. More than 20 universities selected under the program show their academic programs during fairs and educational roadshows abroad.

The UGC also showcases Cusat select Programs for education students-how must be the USA, September this year. Cusat has a job to a five-minute video shows the academic infrastructure and on campus.

The Commission had also asked the University to prepare a four-page brochure with detailed information on their academic programs and other benefits. The four-page brochure was the model in a brochure by the Central University of Hyderabad for PIHEAD program. The brochure is foreign students, education must be fair to the USA.

According to some sources, the first phase of the programme will be PIHEAD Kick-off, with an equitable educational institutions must take place in Baltimore, USA in September. The Commission will encourage financial support for participation in the annual event equitable NAFSA (Association of International Educators). The UGC hopes that the number of students applying for courses offered by Indian universities to increase the implementation of trade fairs abroad.

Cusat proposed a combination of courses with emphasis on expertise in each department.

The UGC has participating universities to offer a package, it would be more students from abroad. The universities were most recently on the needs of education, knowledge, particularly in emerging disciplines.

The Commission has proposed that universities should familiarize themselves with the course is not unique proposed by foreign universities. Cusat offered a mix of short-term courses on humanities and letters. The Centre for Co-operation MHO of Cusat has offered two courses of six weeks.

Courses include the provision `a regional training programme in the areas of design, installation, administration and maintenance of networking systems” and “programme of sustainable management of seas and resources for development in India, in the exclusive economic zone. ”

The School of Marine Science has proposed nine short-term programmes.