The annual Science Careers Expo drew hundreds of college students from across the island as they gathered to explore a range of opportunities and ignite their passion for scientific pursuits.

This event, hosted by the Ministry of Education, aimed to give senior students (Year 11,12,13) the opportunity to explore career prospects that exists in the Cook Islands and internationally.

The much-anticipated Expo was held this week on Wednesday at Te Are Karioi (National Auditorium), providing a platform for the 450 students who attended.

Ministry of Education’s science advisor, Cindy Milanovic said at the Expo the students got to talk to the many organisations that were presenting and found out the many different roles that people carry out in a workplace.

“They learnt that most workplaces have a diverse range of employment opportunities with skills and qualifications that are transferable across other organisations.

“These are roles such as Accounting, Human Resources and Information Technologies.

“With 25 different Cook Islands workplaces presenting in one day, the students received a fantastic range of careers to explore.”

Another aim of the Expo was to offer students information about Career Pathways information.

“All the exhibitors went the extra mile to present posters and booklets to students with information about the skills, attributes and qualifications that are required in key roles in the organisation,” Milanovic said.

Staff members at their respective booths answered questions and gave students some hands on experiences of what people do in their roles.

Milanovic said there were many highlights on the day, some of which include the Air New Zealand booth that featured two of their pilots who flew in from Aotearoa New Zealand especially to talk to the students, and the Cook Islands Investment Corporation (CIIC) had students captivated with their Jenga game that involved attendees pulling out wooden brinks and answering careers questions to win prizes.

“Students often don’t really know what they want to do after high school or don’t have any idea how to go about gaining access to jobs that they would like to do so the information offered to them is invaluable.”

Another objective of the Expo was to include community involvement in the careers education of our students, added Milanovic.

The 25 organisations that were present included most of the government ministries with a small number of private organisations.

Some of the exhibiting booths included Ministry of Education, Infrastructure Cook Islands, CIIC, Ministry of Finance and Economics, Cook Islands Tourism with some of the private organisations being Air NZ and Te Ipukarea Society.

Some government ministries were not able to be present due to their staff requiring to be on the job delivering essential services on the day, said Milanovic.

“While it is appreciated that most private organisations require their staff on hand during the day, we would like to see more private organisations involved in the Careers Expo so that our students can appreciate a wide range of careers opportunities.

“All the organisations that were present did a fantastic job in informing our students as well as keeping them thoroughly engaged with learning games, quizzes and answering their questions.

“It has been great to see so many of our exhibitors this year setting up extremely interactive and engaging booths. The quality of exhibits is getting better and better each year.”

The majority of the students at the Expo came from Tereora College, there were also students from Titikaveka, Nukutere and Imanuela Akatemia.