High school students and parents attended the second BAPS Perth Education Seminar held on Saturday, 19 July 2014 at the BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, Perth. The seminar focussed on upcoming changes to the Western Australian Education system, the Australian Tertiary Admission Ranking (ATAR), high school subject selection, University application process and the role of Tertiary Institutions Service Centre (TISC).
The seminar was divided into three sections. The first was a presentation and introduction to TISC by Mr Steve Howart, CEO of TISC WA. The presentation gave an in-depth insight into TISC's role and how the ATAR works. This presentation helped dispel some common misconceptions that parents and students had and provided a perspective on how they can better select their subjects and apply for university. It also covered upcoming changes to the education system over the next few years that will affect students moving into senior school. The stimulating speech reached out to all parents to better understand and support their children as they go through a very stressful but rewarding stage in their life.
The second part of the seminar was a 45 minute Q&A session with 6 panellists. The panellists were from various fields and age groups, with the youngest having just finished year 12 and the oldest having graduated and working in his profession for the past 3 years. The MC queried the panellists with some frequently asked questions ranging from academics to spirituality to real life experiences. The panellists' replies provided different perspectives regarding parental expectations, student expectations and some common factors that distract from education. The panel discussion further helped guide parents and students on effective balance between study and sport, time management, career opportunities and the importance of satsang during school.
The third part of the seminar was a one-on-one interaction with major West Australian universities (Curtin, Murdoch and University of Western Australia) in which students were able to meet with university representatives and understand what courses were available to them in order to meet their own future higher education requirements as well as know more about courses catering to their interests.
Overall the seminar was a great success with most attendees leaving great feedback.