The Bhutanese Leading the way.
The annual National Graduate Orientation Program (NGOP) is set to start on 12 August. NGOP is organized by the Ministry of Labour and Human Resources (MoLHR). As of 9 August, after the necessary verifications, a total of 2,392 graduates are eligible to attend the NGOP 2018. Out of the total, 1,114 are males and 1,278 are females.
Initially, as of 3 August, 2,790 university graduates registered themselves for the program, but 65 of were disqualified and 333 did not turn up during the verification, which was held from 6 to 9 August, said an official from the ministry. Last year around 2,727 graduates were registered for the program.
According to the concerned officials, the theme for the NGOP 2018- “Fostering Camaraderie for National Unity and Growth” was chosen in order to promote team spirit, friendship and camaraderie among the youth for a healthy society. “With pressures of modern life and influence of fast evolving communication technologies such as, the internet, youths are getting aloof and individualistic, so we aim to promote team spirit and friendship among them,” said the official.
Of the total 2,392 graduates, 1,845 graduates are from colleges within Bhutan and 547 have graduated from colleges outside Bhutan. Last year, from the total registered, 1,462 graduates were from colleges within Bhutan, and 1,265 graduates had studied abroad.
The seven-day program will see sessions on national security and sovereignty, social and youth issues, engaging youth in agriculture, culture and tradition, young entrepreneurs forum, sustainable socio-economic development, and Driglam theory & practical sessions among other social activities.
The labour ministry said that they will continue to provide the daily food allowance, as done in the previous years, to enable the youth to have lunch at the NGOP venue, so that the graduates attending the program can attend all the programs. This is in keeping with the positive feedback received from the graduates on the daily food allowance of Nu 200 per day per graduate. “Serving lunches was one of the biggest challenges of the NGOP in the past. Cooking for more than 2,000 graduates and meeting everyone’s expectation was difficult, and complaints in the past were mostly in regard to meals,” said the official.
In order to promote friendship among the graduates, the ministry will organize social events including games and sports, a new initiative starting this year.
