Homemade Masters Degrees

For the first time in the history of the country, Bhutanese people can now pursue their Masters degrees at Sherubste College, the country’s first premier college. According to the news released by the college, it proposes to start offering Masters in English, Economics and Mathematics. Good news to us all. We should be proud of it because this shows the level of confidence the college has attained. And we are really proud that the college has dared to take this initiative. Congratulations to the college administration and Royal University of Bhutan for daring to dream thus.

Hopefully, now most Bhutanese aspiring to upgrade their qualification can do so without having to go far from their families. Those that have gone abroad should be in a position to share with us how inconvenient it is being away from one’s family members. But now that problem will be solved.

But when most of our people are unwilling to get their Masters from India, will our people be ready enough to take chance in studying in our indigenous college? This is because when we think of Masters, in Bhutan we talk about the corresponding financial returns. I guess this must be it everywhere in the world. The fast rule is, the further you go away from your homes and family, the more lucrative the venture becomes. That’s why today we have hundreds competing for a slot or two to study on foreign soil. What will be the financial returns if one avails homemade degrees? And we are going to hear that kind of questions a lot. When I can study abroad and bring home some dollars, why would I choose to sit here and go home empty-handed?

Again it all boils down to the question of qualification versus monetary returns. I think if I can upgrade my qualification, I am also indirectly upgrading my social position and thus the financial returns. However, my concerns would be whether our home grown college is equipped to deliver courses that are challenging and are of international standards. Does the college have the required and qualified manpower? If the answers are affirmative, then for me it would be like going home.

For now, looking at MA (English) course modules, it looks like old wine being poured into new bottle. Would I want to waste another two years sitting there listening to the same stuffs all over again? Or do we have someone to delve in-depth this time?

No offense is intended at any institutions. All beginnings are apprehensive. For now, daring to dream is good enough and time will take care of the rest.

Comments

An endemic sense of place

A sense of place is a feeling that makes one feel at home and thereby at peace whenever he or she is in a particular area or think of one. It is the first impression or a deep sense of recognition that is deeply rooted in our memories. It is a feeling of happiness, and a sense of safety, an expression of endearment toward a particula r place (Cross 2001). Before I travelled to Perth for my studies, I used to work in Thimphu, though I was born and raised in a small village called Wamling in central Bhutan. Although Thimphu offers modern facilities and infrastructure, it is only back in the village that I feel entirely at home. It's here I get a sense of peace and experience a sense of belongingness; it's where I can genuinely be myself. In Wamling, our day breaks with a crowing of a rooster and mooing of cows in the distance. Somewhere a horse neighs, and another reciprocates from nearby. A dog howls and chickens chuckle in the coup. A stream gurgles down the hill turning p...

Utpal Academy - Bhutan's first All-girls High School

Academic Block Welcome to Bhutan’s first all-girls school. Isn’t that wonderful news to all our parents? Certainly, as a parent of a one-year old daughter I am excited about the coming of a school exclusively dedicated to the needs of girls. Our girls need special treatment, which we can for sure entrust the responsibility to Utal Academy, Paro. Dinning Hall I really like the name – Utpal – in Buddhist world, Utpal is another name for lotus flower, which is believed to grow from mud and yet blossoms into a beautiful and majestic flower. It stands for purity and many deities are depicted holding flower Utpal, more prominently Jestusn Dolma, the Goddess Tara. Symbolically, it also stands for the transformation of our girls. What an apt name for the school! Hostel Room The Principal’s message posted on the academy’s website promises providing our young women an “opportunity to participate fully in a wide range of extracurricular activities to develop skills and qualities that...

When they are ready

The Ministry of Education discovered 890 'underage' children admitted in schools across the country in 2019. Thus, the ministry in May 2019 issued a notification revoking the admission for these children. Majority were in urban centres. Desperate, parents and the affected schools requested the government to intervene. They also requested the government to consider lowering the enrolment age to five years. Currently, in Bhutan a child can legally go to school only when s(he) is six years old. And that policy was strictly followed a few years ago to the extent that some schools refused to admit children even if they were short of a few weeks. So, parents, mostly in urban areas, resorted to faking their children's ages. Many parents were guilty of adding years onto their children's actual ages. However, most parents, we are told, managed to correct their 'mistakes' later. Faking a child's age was rampant...

Nawang P Phuntsho

Search This Blog