The Bhutanese Leading the way.
Technical and Vocational Education Training (TVET) will be included as an optional stream starting from 2020 academic session. This was endorsed by the education ministry during the 19th national education conference in December 2018.
TVET is like any other streams and would concentrate on building skills, said the education minister. The conference decided that the government would fund the TVET students through scholarship program, in private schools, which would give an opportunity to enroll students in the TVET stream.
However, during the press meet yesterday, the education minister said the preparation for the program is yet to happen and it is yet to decide if the program will be under education ministry or the labour ministry. “It isn’t clear in the blueprint of both the ministries too, but it is not to be kept as it is and will have to be identified and prioritized since it has the potential to solve the unemployment issue which is very pertinent at the moment,” he said, adding that in a current situation the program is neither fully part of education nor the labour ministry.
“It’s about time we implement and we are really worried,” Lyonpo said, adding that the program needs to be structured well and figure out which ministry will monitor and govern which is why the process is yet to start. “It’s important that we hold discussions with concerned authorities and ministries which we would be doing this afternoon only after which we will be able to know where the TVET program is headed.”
Meanwhile, the agriculture minister added the program is not only to get a job but to make the individual person make a meaningful living. “The prevailing perception among people is that it’s a blue collar job, and by remolding the TVET program we also need to shape that perception.”
The initiative was aimed to enable students to acquire skills that are required in the market, provide skills-based studies, curb skills and job mismatch, and reduce unemployment problems, which is similar to the objectives of existing TVET program.
