The Bhutanese Leading the way.
His Majesty The King granted an Audience to the participants of the 16th Golden Youth Award on 21 March.
80 students, 2 boys and 2 girls each nominated from 20 dzongkhags, are participating in the ongoing Golden Youth Award, which began on 17th March.
The highly successful Golden Youth Award, which began in 2005, is an initiative of Her Majesty Gyalyum Tseyring Pem Wangchuck, and coordinated by the Bhutan Youth Development Fund. The annual Golden Youth Award nurtures young leaders, selecting a winner from among the participants to receive scholarships at prestigious schools around the world.
The first GYA was held in 2008 and so far, more than 2,000 young people have been part of the Golden Youth Award.
The 16th GYA 2024 was graced by Her Royal Highness Princess Chimi Yangzom Wangchuck and the Vice President of Bhutan Youth Development Fund.
According to the Bhutan Youth Development Fund, GYA is a platform created to inspire and motivate the youth to excel holistically, becoming role models for their peers and community. The most outstanding GYA nominee earns the title of ‘Golden Youth’, receiving a scholarship to study in a prestigious college abroad.
For the selection process, every year, 80 young students are selected from among the brightest of the 20 dzongkhags who gather in Thimphu to participate in the Golden Youth Award Camp. Moreover, 15 GYA winners have received scholarships to United World Colleges across the Netherlands, Singapore, Thailand, Canada, and India.
The objective set by YDF is to “Motivate students to be hard-working, responsible, consistent, and excel in both academic and co-curricular activities. Additionally, equal opportunities to be provided for students to access prestigious scholarships.”
For this, the Bhutan Youth Development Fund has certain camp rules where individual participants have to engage in all the activities without any exception and be punctual all the time.
They have also planned roles and responsibilities where the camp managers are responsible for coordinating and managing the day-to-day activities, preparing of budget, and facilitating the whole GYA Camp.
The health and first aid services are responsible for assisting the medical doctor on duty, being available during the camp, referring any severe cases to the doctor on duty, and informing the camp manager.
Most importantly, to keep the students healthy and fit, the mess coordinators should ensure a balanced diet is included in the menu, monitor hygiene, and ensure “…quality and quantity of food for all participants, discourage wastage of food and maintain proper disposal units.”
According to organizer, the 80 participants had a listening and speaking test on 18 March, a reading and writing test on the 19 March. A talent show was held on 20 March.
The closing ceremony of the GYA is to be held on 23 March at RUB Hall, where one talented student will be the recipient of GYA 2024.
Delker, a participant says that apart from these tests, they were also engaged in programs that taught them leadership skills, coping with mental health, and in-depth mindfulness.
Tashi Wangmo, another participant says that during the selection process, they were evaluated in various areas including academics, sports, and leadership apart from their achievements and merits.
When asked about the motive for participating in the 16th GYA, she said, “I applied for GYA because I’m passionate about making a positive impact on my community. I believe in the power of youth to drive change and create a better future for everyone. I want to motivate other students to believe in themselves that they are equally important in building our future brighter. I want the youths of Bhutan to come forward.”
