Open Dreams participates in the 2018 CIS-AISA Institute on Admission & Guidance in Africa | James Akaba

From April 6th - 7th 2018, 45 university Admission Officers from nine countries, representatives from 26 international schools and six organizations all converged at the International School of Kenya (ISK), Nairobi to brainstorm, connect and discuss admission and guidance in Africa! The conference was organized by the Council of International Schools (CIS) in collaboration with the Association of International Schools in Africa (AISA).

The Institute, very rich in the content of the presentations, was a veritable professional development program and an incredible opportunity to admission officers looking to recruit, school counselors and organizations helping out students, and students looking forward to quality international higher education which meets their needs, to get together on the same platform. From the indoor sessions to informal moments on the breakfast/lunch table and the school/college fairs, every engagement was potentially productive.

Breakfast and networking session

Here are some of the remarkable events at the institute

(1) The School Fair

Conversation with a rep from the MasterCard Foundation Scholarship Program at Science Po, Paris, France

This event which marked the end of day one was very significant. It was a golden opportunity to present Open Dreams to 45 university admission officers, conference participants and guests. With an Organization Profile, I connected with everyone who visited our table. Institute participants who knew little about Open Dreams returned with information on who we are and the rigorous work we do. I believe this will open more doors to our scholars. This was a very big opportunity for Open Dreams as a participant in this CIS-AISA institute for the very first time. We could not have missed it – thanks to Frederico Silva & Alex Schultes of Northwestern University, Qatar for partnering with Open Dreams to happily sponsor the trip. Amazing!

This was the climax of the CIS-AISA institute. The 45 universities in attendance displayed their promotional material lavishly on campus and countless visitors thronged into the International School of Kenya (ISK) campus to gather information, make choices on colleges and engage. Nairobi has a remarkably diverse population from all corners of the globe; the people have a thirst for high-quality education for their kids. It was some kind of super-market for information on universities – imagine accessing 45 university officials on one spot and getting into productive engagements with them, more like a dream setting. I gathered a lot of resources which our scholars, present and to-be, will explore.

This very impressive CIS-AISA Institute enhances the performance of colleges and schools in meeting the needs of those yearning for international education and global citizenship for a more interconnected and advanced world. We are proud to have been part of the highly successful institute, which indeed exceeded our expectations!