INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION AND LIFELONG LEARNING EXHIBITION GAUDEAMUS® 2008

The 1st edition of the Education and Lifelong Learning Exhibition Gaudeamus® International 2008 was held in the Krizik exhibition hall E of the showground in Prague from the 9th to the 10th April 2008. The exhibition was designated for everybody who wanted study at a university, college or at other school abroad. After the Czech Republic had entered the European Union, the number of foreign exhibitors, which were interested in recruiting Czech students for their courses, increased considerably.

The structure of exhibitors

The exhibition included 89 independent exhibitors, as follows:

The organization of the exhibition

The organization and development of the exhibition was ensured by the company MP-Soft®, a.s., Brno, and Brno University of Technology, under the auspices of The Czech Ministry of Education and the rector of Brno University of Technology. The professional guarantor of the Exhibition was represented by Prof. Ing. Jan M. Honzík, CSc. from Brno University of Technology. The organizational guarantor was Dipl.Ing. Pavel Mikula, the president of MP-Soft, a.s. Brno.

The exhibition conception was prepared by the consultative board consisting of the representatives of the most important exhibitors especially universities. Prof. Ing. Jan M. Honzík, CSc. was the board's chairman.

The exhibition course

The exhibition was open for public daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., from 9th to 10th April 2008. The first day of the exhibition culminated in the social evening and discussion meeting of exhibition participants, which took place in the Stone Collection in Prague. Rectors of universities and colleges and other guests of honor came to the social evening.

The attendance of the exhibition

The actual attendance was 5459 visitors. The exhibition attendance distribution into individual days is presented in chart 2.

The attendance structure

During the exhibition the statistical survey was carried out among the lecture participants. The survey was realized in the form of prize draw tickets. 24,7 % of the total number of visitors filled in the tickets and returned them for drawing lots. Detailed results are listed in the following charts.

The statistic finding confirms the quality and high efficiency of applied marketing methods during the exhibition preparation. The results reveal evident nation-wide field of activity of the exhibition and information penetration to the whole Czech Republic. The exhibition stamped its significant role as a source of information concerning the study opportunities at Czech and foreign universities, higher schools and other educational institutions.

The chart 3 shows the representation of individual target groups within the total exhibition attendance.

The chart 4 contains the data concerning the regional distribution of attendance. The visitors came from all regions of the Czech Republic.

Target groups and their characteristics

Apart from standard observed data new data concerning the characteristics of target groups were observed. The students answered the following questions:

1. I would like to choose the subject belonging to the group:

• Social Science
• Engineering
• Economics
• Education (Teaching)
• Art
• Management
• Law
• Languages
• Medicine
• Computer Science
• Natural Science
• Mathematics - physics
• Sporting
• Other

The students could tick off one or more of the listed subjects, which they would like to study at the university or college. 1 348 students were addressed out of total number of 5 459. The results (percentage) of the survey are stated in chart 5.

2. Would you prefer:

• Bachelor's degree
• Bachelor's degree with possible follow-up Master's degree
• Master's degree (follow-up)
• Master's degree (long)
• Higher professional school
• Other

The students could tick off which degree they would like to gain. 1 348 students were addressed out of total number of 5 459. The results (percentage) of the survey are stated in chart 6.

3. Put in order the factors, which influence you in your choice of further studies

• Salary
• Employment prospects
• Preceding education
• Job status
• Personal predisposes (skills and interests)

The students could mark in the range from 1 to 5 (1 - the most, 5 the least) the significance of above stated factors, how they are important for them in the selection of further studies. 1 348 students were addressed out of total number of 5 459. The results (averages of marks) of the survey are stated in chart 7.

The students are mostly interested in Social Sciences, Economics and Management. They prefer Bachelor's degree with possible follow-up Master's degree or Master's degree (long). The biggest influence on their decision has personal predisposes, skills, interests and employment prospects; preceding education and job status - the least.

The exhibitor's lecturers during the exhibition

The lecture theatre was a part of the standard exhibition facilities, the theatre seated 120 people. It was equipped with the quality sound system, overhead projector, data-video projector, video recorder, DVD recorder and computers for presentation projection. The lectures were held by qualified representatives of participating schools.

24.7 % of all exhibition visitors (this is the proved number of lecture participants, which means 1 348 visitors) attended the lectures. In fact, the total attendance was higher, because only visitors who filled in the ticket and returned it to the organizers were counted. That is why we can only estimate the real number of lecture participants. We believe that in 2008 the attendance of lectures ranged from 25-30 % of total number of the exhibition visitors, the absolute number - 1 364 to 1 637 visitors.

After each lecture, the organizers drew lots and drew 5 participants of the lecture, who got raffles with the exhibition logo or prizes donated by MP-Soft, a.s. company or the lecturing school. The first drawn person was given the most valuable prize, the others got umbrellas, CD boxes, T-shirts, peaked caps etc.

During the 1st edition of the exhibition in Prague, the lecture theatre was the most attended place at the exhibition. The lectures were the most efficient way of passing information about possibilities of higher education and conditions of entrance examination. Despite the high capacity of the lecture theatre, there was not enough space during some of the lectures, there were not enough seats and entrance hall was overcrowded.

The exhibition catalogue

Each visitor received a printed, 48 pages catalogue of the exhibiting schools and detailed electronic catalogue on CD ROM. The catalogues contained detailed information about higher education at exhibiting schools and educational institutions. Most of the schools supplied information about school, the list of faculties, contacts to studies departments, information about faculties, subjects, entrance examinations, student's statistics at individual faculties and departments, etc. Each exhibitor has five lines advert in the catalogue free of charge.

For the 1st edition of the exhibition 12 000 printed catalogues and CD ROM catalogues were prepared.

Information about fields of study and information stand

Visitors had at their disposal three ways of information sources about study opportunities, fields of study, universities and colleges:

• The interactive index of fields of study on the web site www.gaudeamus.cz. Index was divided to the Czech and foreign part. Each exhibitor could provide list of fields of study of his school, it was put to the index free of charge.
• The interactive version of the index of fields of study which was put into the CD ROM catalogue.
• The advisory service about study opportunities, selection of a future study, fields of study and so on. This service was free of charge for visitors and future students. The special stand was built for the service next to the entrance to the exhibition hall. Advisers were mainly answering four typical questions:
  • Where can I study abroad ?
  • Where can I study a field of study ?
  • Which field of study can I study at a school ?
  • Where can I study a faculty ?
  • Where can I study after graduation ?

The 2nd edition of the exhibition in 2009

The 2nd edition of the Gaudeamus® exhibition in Prague is planned from the 3rd to 5th February 2009. The term of the exhibition was chosen with respect to requirements of the exhibiting schools - the information obtained from the survey held during the 1st edition of the exhibition.



9th June 2008 in Brno


Pavel Mikula
President