The government has deferred its plan to send a team to Japan to study the issues of the students who went to Japan under the Learn and Earn programme.
The Prime Minister at the Friday media meet session said they are still considering if a team needs to be sent or not. He added visiting Japan won’t have much impact in solving the existing problems and would only be wastage of resources.
After much appeal and concerns from parents and students, the government had earlier shared they would send a team to visit Japan.
“Since we know every problem faced there, we won’t be able to get new ideas even if we visit Japan. It will just be wastage of time and money. Instead, this money can be used for paying students’ loan. But it does not mean that we don’t want to go if needed, we may go but we don’t think we will come back with any new solutions,” Prime Minister Dr Lotay Tshering said.
He also said the government is working closely with Bhutan Development Bank Limited (BDBL) to defer loan repayments of the students.
“Firstly, the government does not have any authority to inform banks to cancel the loan interest. Secondly, when we change the loan repayment procedure, we need clients who signed with the banks but they are currently in Japan. So, we are discussing to draft new loan agreements. Once the documents are ready, we may send a person to get signatures from students in Japan. Hopefully, we will be able to implement within the next one to two months.”
The students took a loan of about Nu 700, 000 each under the overseas education and skill development loan scheme to study and work in Japan. They are given five years to repay the loan and also six months grace period before they start the repayment.
Meanwhile, Bhutanese students in Japan say they are still struggling with issues like getting jobs, language schools seizing their passports, the expiry of their work permits.
BBS got in touch with a few of them through facebook.
“Most of us are planning to come back to Bhutan. We are suffering here. Moreover, our courses complete by March. So, I am also thinking of coming back to Bhutan. My student card expires in April, so they may not allow us to stay here,” a Bhutanese student in Japan, said
“I am not able to earn enough income to pay back my loans. My loan penalties must have gone up now. Getting a job is very difficult here. The earning from one job is enough for our daily expenses. I don’t have any saving,” another student, said.
“When we do two jobs, earning is better but it is very difficult. And moreover, we are not allowed to do two part-time jobs. But when we stick with one work, we land up without being able to pay the loan,” also a Bhutanese student in Japan said.
Upon the invitation of a Non-Government Organization in Japan, two representatives from the parents’ committee of “Learn and Earn” programme will visit Japan next week for a month.
The team will visit Japanese Language Schools and meet Bhutanese students there. They will also visit some of the important Japanese government offices and meet some journalists. The move is to help improve the lives of Bhutanese students in Japan.
