SOME 3,000 children from primary and secondary schools in the Region Four Education District were exposed to career opportunities at a massive career extravaganza held at Hope Secondary School, East Coast Demerara.

The extravaganza was a shift from the career fairs which were previously held, education officials told the Guyana Chronicle.

Education Officer, Loren Parks, who has supervisory responsibility for the secondary department in the region, explained that the event was the fourth instalment of an education fair but the name this year was changed.

He said after the department carefully reviewed the activities held previously, a decision was made to make the events more interactive, hence, the name change.

“We wanted it to be more interactive where the children come into a mini work study environment so rather than having agencies and NGOs just coming and speak to our children, we thought it best to have them come and interact with them and give them practical experiences. We wanted them to go to the booths and be engaged in the various fields of study,” Parks told this publication.

He said, at the recently concluded career extravaganza, once a child entered a booth, the persons manning the booth immediately interacted with the child.

“For example when a child walks into the music booth, in that booth they will be able to identify notes and keys and would also be exposed to voice training,” he said.

Regional Education Officer, Tiffany Favourite-Harvey explained that the department invited all the secondary and primary schools in the region to participate in the event.

She pointed out that due to the high numbers, a decision was made for students to visit the booths at various times during the two-day event.

This, she said, prevented overcrowding at the venue and enabled a better learning environment.

The fair sought to help students make the right choice regarding their career path.