The Bengaluru Schools' Education Initiatives (BSEI) is organising a unique education expo to help parents and students who are struggling to find the best school in the time of Covid-19.

The three-day, round-the-clock virtual Bangalore Education Online Expo will be held from October 16 to 18. It will bring together schools, parents, educators, students and service providers under one roof.

During the expo, parents and children can virtually visit the stalls put up by different schools and engage in live chats with the school officials. Besides, they can participate in discussions and live question and answer sessions.

This does not mean that the event is bereft of fun and frolic. The organisers have lined up plenty of virtual contests such as spell bee, talk shows, family quiz, inspire talks for children between 6 and 15 years (where they can share their life's journey and inspirational stories), Let's JAM (a one-minute talent show for children) and a social impact project for schools.

“Our aim is to help parents to choose a good place for their children to learn and prepare for their future. We provide awareness to parents and students about quality education and best schools. We tell parents that they should not choose schools just by looking at brochures," said Sandhya Viswan, co-administrator of the BSEI. 

She said the expo will showcase not just schools that follow CBSE or ICSE syllabi, but institutions that offer alternate schooling and homeschooling. “Parents have started thinking differently. They want their children to not just learn subjects but want to see a holistic development in their child's personality and character. Only good education and right parenting can enable that," she said.

Virtual reality

The expo will harp on virtual reality for better users' experience. 

Users will be virtually guided into an auditorium to see the three-dimensional stalls set up by the participating schools. The counters will provide all information about the schools.  

History

The expo organiser, BSEI, is an offshoot of Bangalore Schools, a Facebook community that was formed in 2012 as a support platform for parents, educators and students.

The community was formed by journalist Shweta Sharan. Later, Sandhya and  Manoj Thelakkat joined as co-administrators. “We together formed this company to conduct outreach programmes for parenting and education. Now, Bangalore Schools group has over 49,000 active members. It is one of the largest and most active Facebook groups," said group co-administrator Manoj.

BSEI's first education expo was held in January this year, which was attended by more than 2,000 parents, 25 schools and 12 service providers.

The team has decided to move the expo online because of the Covid-19 pandemic. “Online expo will prevent the spread of Covid-19. Besides, it will give people from around the globe a chance to participate and get to know the schools in Bangalore,” Manoj said. 

To register and participate in the expo, visit www.bsei.in