The Parents’ Committee in a formal letter submitted to the Finance Secretary on Friday has sought information from the Ministry of Finance on the government guarantee or sovereign guarantee for the Japan Overseas Learn and Earn (LEP) employment program.
The letter asks information with regard to the sovereign guarantee provided by the cabinet to the Bhutan Development Bank Limited. It says, “As most of the students and parents are struggling to repay their loan, the above information will be very helpful to the parents and students who are mostly from humble backgrounds.
The students and parents have said that the they would have never taken the LEP program which defrauded them had it not been for the active role of the Ministry of Labour and Human Resources which vouched for the program.
The latest move comes as the parents look at a way by which the loans can be paid.
The LEP program in essence resulted in students taking Nu 700,000 loans on the basis that they can learn and earn and pay it back but the program did not live up to this promise according to the majority of students and parents who also say they have been cheated in many ways and students were in fact exploited.