EDEX Expo 2024 to empower youth with education, innovation and sustainability

EDEX officials and representatives of partner organisations endorsing EDEX Expo 2024 

PIX BY PRADEEP PATHIRANA

• By Chamindra Wickramasinghe 

EDEX Expo 2024, the country’s largest, longest-running and premier education exhibition and job fair, will take

place from February 09 to 11, at the Sri Lanka Exhibition and Convention Centre, Colombo and from February 17 to 18, at the Kandy City Centre, Kandy. 
Organised by the Royal College Union, the expo aims to provide opportunities in higher education, training, employment and entrepreneurship for the youth.

Addressing the EDEX 20th Anniversary Expo 2024 media briefing, EDEX Chairman Mahinda Galagedara said that the genuine intention of the grand expo is “empowering the Sri Lankan youth to be globally competitive”. 
EDEX Expo 2024 will have 132 and 60 local and foreign education provider stalls in Colombo and Kandy, respectively, including universities from Australia, Canada, Japan, France, the UAE, Pakistan, India and China, enabling students to identify qualifications for their
chosen careers. 

While the Institute of Certified Management Accountants of Sri Lanka is to offer over 50 scholarships, many institutions are to provide partial or full scholarships, some to be exclusive offers available through EDEX Expo.
EDEX Job Fair, with the representation of 20 Sri Lankan leading corporates, will offer on-site interviews and immediate recruitments for various industries besides banking and finance, IT, culinary, marketing, media
and insurance.

At the venue, the EDEX Careers initiative will provide access to the National Career Guidance Association’s Career Key psychometric test, assisting specifically students and job seekers to identify the most fitting and fulfilling career path, based on their strengths
and preferences.  
The free seminars, featuring presentations by industry experts, influencers and key figures in their respective fields, are to inspire and educate the youth.

Assisted by the National Enterprise Development Authority and Hatch, EDEX Entrepreneur presents ‘The Entrepreneurs Arena’, which will host one-to-one discussion sessions on entrepreneurship, motivating and guiding on the start-up process and technical competencies, to spur entrepreneurial ventures. 
Coinciding with the expo, EDEX Think Green that promotes sustainable practices will unveil Sri Lanka’s first-ever Climate Clock; this science-backed timer tracks the time left to stop global warming reaching its 1.5 degrees Celsius irreversible point. 

It is utilised “to spark conversations, ignite curiosity and inspire young people to become agents of positive change in the face of the climate crisis,” EDEX Expo 2024 Project Chairman Nadun Hettiarachchi said. 
Japanese Ambassador Mizukoshi Hideaki is to inaugurate EDEX Expo 2024, which will be open to the public between 9:30 a.m. and 6:00 p.m., in Colombo and 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., in Kandy.