The Bhutanese Leading the way.
The Bhutan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI) opened the 4th Bhutan International Education Fair at Changlimethang Stadium parking area in Thimphu yesterday.
In his welcome note, Secretary General, BCCI, Phub Tshering, said the education fair is an annual event which provides people, especially those in the private sector, with the opportunity to upgrade their educational qualification and increase their career scope. Phub Tshering said BCCI sees it as an obligation to provide such platforms to students and parents.
The fair, this year, has attracted some 53 institutions and 60 participants from seven countries.
The Director General, Department of Adult and Higher Education, Tshewang Tandin, said parents and students have been looking forward to the BCCI education fair. He said the success of modern education in Bhutan and 100 percent school enrollment has increased the number of students pursuing higher education each year.
“This year, we have about 9,000 plus students who have passed the class 12 exams. The capacity, here in the country is not much, they may be able to absorb just half of the student numbers,” said Tshewang Tandin.
“Universities have been very receptive to the Bhutanese students, this is a small country, the number of students is not very big, but expectations of our students are very high.” he added.
The Director, Webster University, Ratish Thakur, said, “Webster University is an American university, present in nine countries and Thailand is one of it. In Thailand, we have students from about 57 different countries and faculties from 19 different countries and biggest percentage of students from United States.”
He said, “We are very happy with students from Bhutan because they are serious, hardworking and what we like very much is that they are proud of their country.”
He said the university offers scholarships through Ministry of Education, and students can also contact them directly for financial aid.
“We have also kept a parallel event with the fair, a seminar and conference, to share the insights with parents who are visiting the fair and students can be made aware of the facilities provided by university,” said Ratish Thakur.
BCCI said institutions sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with BCCI, which serves as a benefit to the students because through MoU, the under privileged students have a chance of getting scholarships and financial support.
The Director General, Department of Adult and Higher Education, advised parents and students to look for courses that increase the chance to be employed. “I think it is difficult to employ all the graduates, however, it is possible to enhance
employment of graduates. Our appeal is to look into more technical programs, entrepreneurship programs, so that graduates are not only able to employ themselves, but they are also in position to employ others. These are the type of courses we look forward to.”
BCCI said that the last three fairs have been very successful because of the increase in number of participants from international colleges. Universities, college, vocational institutes and schools from Bhutan, India, Nepal, Thailand, Australia, Malaysia and U.S India Education Foundation have put up their stalls at the fair, and are ready to provide information on admission requirement, scholarship offers, etc., till March 9, 2014.
