With limited intake in colleges within the country and countries in the region battling the worst fight against the Coronavirus, finding a college to pursue undergraduate studies has become a challenge for the country’s high school graduates.
More than 12,500 students completed high school this year. Of it, only 3567 were absorbed in government and private colleges and training institutes within the country.
“I began applying for colleges within the country as soon as admissions were open this year. I couldn’t get admission in the RUB colleges, not even as a self-financing student or in the two private colleges in the country. Now admission is closed. My family are worried and working hard to secure an admission. But chances are slim,” said Sangay Zam, a high school graduate from Paro.
“I waited for admissions into RUB colleges. But I couldn’t get through. So I tried in Norbuling Rigter College but I am told the admissions were already closed. Due to the pandemic, I can’t even go outside to study. For now, the college said they appealed to RUB to increase intake. So I am waiting for the response,” added Sonam Gyeltshen.
The issue was also raised at the National Assembly’s question hour session today. The education minister Jai Bir Rai said the students must explore admissions and opportunities into Technical Training Institutes and other skills development programmes.
“I see a lot of opportunities being created by the government in various institutions. Students are also offered entrepreneurship training with access to finance through the National Credit Guarantee Scheme and the National CSI Bank. It is not necessary that at this point in time they should go after higher education. They should go but also at end of the day they also require a job. If you really look at maximum youths who were unemployed are the graduates,” said the minister.
Meanwhile, the foreign minister Dr Tandi Dorji said the government is working to increase intake into colleges.
“All the colleges under RUB were instructed to take in as many students as they can accommodate. We have been working on it for the past two months. We have never stopped students from going out. If they wanted to go, we even gave the second dose of the Covishield vaccine and sent some. However, in most of the other countries, most of the schools are closed. Students who received a scholarship from the government to study overseas are studying online. We are also requesting private schools to be converted into colleges with support from the government,” added the minister.
Choni Dema / Kinzang Lhadon / Karma Wangdi
