The government is exploring ways to increase the undergraduate intake for teaching and nursing courses and increasing government scholarships in private colleges. The Prime Minister said this when he dropped by to interact with journalists in Punakha over the weekend.
The Prime Minister said the change is crucial as the previous courses did not align with job market opportunities.
The Prime Minister acknowledged that the immediate change in the courses has impacted the two batches of arts students and therefore it is the responsibility of the government to help them. The government is now trying to increase enrollment in other fields like teaching and nursing.
Earlier, students with arts backgrounds had the option to apply to five colleges under the Royal University of Bhutan. However, this year, only three colleges will accept arts students.
Sherubtse College has removed seven arts and humanities courses. Sherubtse College is now offering new programs in Bachelor of Economics and Political Science, Bachelor of Digital Communications and Project Management, and Bachelor of Data Science and Data Analytics.
Similarly, the College of Language and Culture Studies has suspended the intake for 2023 altogether.
The Prime Minister added that the government is also looking at reducing the intake of arts students in classes eleven and twelve. Of the 6,543 arts students, 5,805 passed the board exam last year.
Kinley Dem
Edited by Sonam Pem
