A thing of scholarships, further studies and IELTS/TOEFL.

picture courtesy: Google

In the name and the interest of human resource development, so many people, both from government and private sector are leaving abroad for higher studies. Their posts are left vacant and so are their chairs. Some (most spouse) find going abroad very irresistible that they even retire from their job. This has not only created an acute shortage of man power in the organization but has also over burdened the ones left behind.

 For many, the ultimate goal of joining the service is to get oneself certified with higher qualification. Here in Bhutan, if not for our regular office chores, one thing that keeps the office goers busy and preoccupied is the thing called the ‘further studies’ in developed countries. Evidently this is also one thing that keeps the organization like RCSC busy and buzzing all the time. By looking at the sheer number of people leaving for studies, one can very well draw an educated guess that the offices in our country will soon be flooded with highly qualified people.  

Critically speaking, a thing of scholarship and further studies are as complex and as confusing as the procedure itself. The predicaments need no further discussion because a thing of IELTS and TOEFL requirement explains it all. However RGoB and GoI scholarship seem to enjoy the exception to this rule.

By being Bhutanese, we are all English educated people, yet we are granted no exception when it comes to language requirements called IELTS and TOEFL certificates. This makes our higher education a very cumbersome process for it involves lot of preparation time and money.

Some people in the middle surely seem to be profiting from our needs. To cite an example, those language tests are being conducted in our country twice a year. Most of the people who take the tests out of their necessity are charged an exorbitant and non refundable fee of Nu.7000/- per tests. That is a lot of money for the tests which in the first place is needless. Secondly, the test never guarantees one an admission to the university and a scholarship. Thirdly, some even fail and are never granted their deserving second chance. The funniest of all is that the test certificates are validity defined. That certificate apparently tells us that the language is also like technology which is subject to getting obsolete with passing time. This is an act of insanity at its worst!

This is an unfair act of commercializing education and many innocent people have today fallen in the traps of those greedy people. They are indeed robbing our friends in the middle of broad day light, right under the nose of our sleeping / passive authorities. We know very well that those people mean nothing more, nothing less but business. If that is the case then what is the amount that they have contributed to our Government as tax? (For giving them an atmosphere, very conducive for business with readymade customers)

If people going to Australia and India (under the auspices RGoB and GoI scholarships respectively) are able to pursue their studies with ease without the language certificates then why do the other people (form the same background) need those senseless certificates? In fact, we already know that we are already a nation that is too much into English. Official correspondence and business deals in English, poetry lines for lovers and letters neatly written in English to our illiterate parents are some of the authentication to prove the statement here.

The concern authorities have clearly neglected the case for a good number of years and it’s high time that they boot up their initiatives to stop that rampant robbers. This will not only have positive impact for our human resource development but will also positive impact for the lives of those young, energetic and knowledge thirsty people in their quest for knowledge and skills in the long run.

(Note: If I am wrong, please right me)