“Employment opportunities are unlimited,” said the Labour and Human Resources Minister, addressing the National Graduates Orientation Programme in Thimphu, yesterday.
This statement by the Labour Minister was music but only to some ears.
For Namgyel Wangchuk, a technical graduate who studied microbiology, the labour Minister’s assurance that job opportunities are unlimited failed to comfort him.
“Recently, the RCSC has announced there is no slot for BSc Microbiology, and then we are told to seat for exam in general category. But then, we are technical graduates and we fear that we may not be able to serve the purpose and not be able to give quality service to the government even if we pass the RCSC exam,” says Namgyel Wangchuk.
On the other hand, the Labour Minister, Ngeema Sangay Tshempo, reassured that technical graduates should not worry about jobs as long as they are skilled.
Meanwhile, Namgyel Wangchuk also said he fails to understand why there isn’t any requirement for microbiologists in the country.
And the answer he received from the Chairperson of the RCSC was not what he wanted to hear.
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“The way we project our need is plainly based on requirement, supply cannot promise demand. Or else, it will lead to lots of mismatches. And so regarding the graduates with BSc Microbiology, at the moment in the government, there is actually no demand and so the RCSC have no choice but to go by what we need,” says Karma Tshiteem, the RCSC Chairperson.
As other graduates also questioned the Labour Minister and the officials and the RCSC on employment prospectus, the Labour Minister reiterated that jobs would be there.
“There are 50,000 foreigners working in our country, if those jobs are taken by our youths, then, there will be no unemployment problem. This kind of problem solves unemployment case as well as it can save money going out from the country,” the minister says.
According to the Labour and Human Resources Ministry, the current youth unemployment rate has increased from 7.5-9 percent now.
As the university graduates, over 2,000 in number, join the labour market, their hopes of finding jobs remain low.
