guidance counsellors began to find the many colleges requesting and coming to make presentations was disrupting the public high schools.

Senior Education Officer at the Ministry of Education Joanne Smith noted that counsellors banded together and decided it would be more meaningful to students if they could hear from all the institutions around the same time.

"We used to get colleges coming to visit at all different times of the year and the message became very fragmented,'' Ms Smith said. "It was also putting a strain on counsellors and caused a lot of disruption of classes. So it was actually counsellors who got together and organised the first fair.'' "But after that first fair it was very obvious that someone else needed to take over the organising,'' Ms Smith continued.

"The counsellors found that they had spent too much time in organising the fair to the detriment of their guidance counsellor functions,'' she noted, "but they all agreed the fair was necessary.'' It was then, Ms Smith noted, that Ron Ancrum offered to take over organising the fair for the Ministry.

Growing from a fair catering to children in the public high schools, the fair in recent years sees a lot of participation and interest from the five private schools, Bermuda College students and adults seeking to further their education.

In fact the Fair is becoming as important for mature students as it is for undergraduates, with a whole day dedicated this year to institutions with graduate study programmes.

Recent features to the fair include evening hours so that parents have the opportunity to attend and ask questions, and pre-fair workshops where Mr.

Ancrum helps students make the most of the opportunity by advising them on what questions to ask and how to present themselves.

Each year Mr. Ancrum surveys participating students and counsellors for feedback on the fair. This helps direct his effort in attracting the various colleges and universities.

Ms. Smith is particularly pleased with this aspect of Mr. Ancrum's programme.

"He makes every effort to get the sorts of colleges and universities that students are looking for.'' she said.

"A few years ago we discovered that students wanted to pursue careers more in a technical nature, computer science and so on, so Mr. Ancrum set about getting some of those institutions on board.'' she continued.

"As most Bermudian students go to American colleges and universities, it is not surprising that American schools feature more than other countries.'' The Ministry of Education will hire buses to take senior students at Berkeley and CedarBridge to the Fair on November 30 and December 1.

"Students are given about two hours to go through the fair,'' Ms Smith revealed. "We have found that that provides them with enough time to get to all the schools that interest them. If they stay any longer they tend to become restless and tired.

"Many students return in the evening opening with their parents and their exposure before hand oftentimes is helpful as parents are directed exactly to the people and schools which most interest their children.''