Abu Dhabi: As careers evolve faster than curricula, students should look beyond university rankings and ask whether a course fits their interests and needs, Chirag Nanda, Managing Partner, Connect To World Consultancy, told families and students at Gulf News Edufair Abu Dhabi 2026.
“A degree opens the door, but it cannot predict what is on the other side of the door,” said Nanda.
The fair, organised by Gulf News, brought students and parents face to face with universities and career experts to answer the question many families are asking: what should students do now?
“It’s all about seeing where the child fits in,” said Nanda.
According to Nanda, university choices should account for evolving careers and curricula, practical learning and emotional development, as well as skills such as handling objections and managing expectations.
He said future employability requires demonstrable knowledge and experience, not just a degree or résumé. Updated curricula, group work and practical sessions, can help students adapt to new projects, he added.
The event brings together more than 20 universities, with education providers, study-abroad advisers and career services experts, giving students and parents the opportunity to explore courses, discuss admissions and seek advice on their next academic step.
Choosing the path that is right to you
Some of the questions, parents today raise, included what they should prepare the kids for, as they approach a future that is yet to be defined.
To which the expert voices his opinion that each students’ education path should reflect their interests, abilities, and goals rather than parental expectations or peer pressure.
For students unsure of a career direction, Nanda wants students to understand what ‘a day in the life’ of any working person would look like.
Job shadowing, such as following a CEO, as an alternative to generic psychometric tests, could help the students to understand what they should work towards building for themselves.
He addressed the parents in the crowd to lend your children the opportunity to understand their own journey to help them realise what it took them to reach where they are today.
“In today's world, every student or every child is unique, and so has to be their educational journey.,” he said, using the example of a forest and its kingdom.
For participating institutions, the core of the fair, has been the connection between academic programmes, and the skills students will need in the workplace. As students with diverse ambitions filled the venue, the fair gave them a platform to ask questions and receive expert guidance.