The NPC activity I was thinking of wouldn't have to be anything overt or even anything specific. Maybe just a mention here and there of someone standing unobtrusively in a classroom with a clipboard or tablet, observing in kwoon, or even keeping an eye on the cadets during meals to see how they gravitate. Maybe have some of the Rangers observe from time to time to give them a reason to interact with the cadets and report back what they observed, what they think, if they see any obvious possible pilot pairs. And then maybe have the teachers push pairs toward each other subtly, like assigning them together for group projects.

The symposiums could be anything from 'here is an odd similarity we found between these wildly different kaiju' to 'if the kaiju are crossing from one universe to another, how many universes have they touched' to 'we have found another jaeger weapon that may change how we fight.' Where some things can be just as right as others are wrong. And maybe have a follow-up class where they discuss what was presented, whether they think the presenters were right or wrong just from what they've seen in the field.

Sorry, my brain loves this sort of thing.