NGOP: There has been a communication gap between the Royal Civil Service Commission (RCSC) and Royal University of Bhutan (RUB) regarding some of the courses conducted by the universities in the country, a commission member with RCSC, Kesang Deki said at the ongoing National Graduates Orientation Programme (NGOP), yesterday.

This was in response to a question asked by a graduate from the Institute of Language and Culture Studies in Taktse, Trongsa.

The graduate, who studied Bhutanese and Himalayan Studies (BHS), Kiba, claimed that despite ranking high in the Bhutan Civil Service Examinations (BCSE), some from last year’s batch were not allowed to take the Post Graduate Diploma in Education (PGDE) course because they are not qualified to teach Indian and World history.

She questioned if the course was introduced in the institute without any consultation between the two agencies and why the course was introduced in the first place if BHS graduates are not required. More than 160 students studying BHS graduated this year.

Kesang Deki explained that there is a technical committee that determines what type of qualifications or professional backgrounds can teach a particular subject for the PGDE course in Samtse.

Another commission member, Karma Hamu Dorjee, said that the commission is equally concerned and that it will ensure that this kind of communication or planning gap is addressed.

However, for the existing courses, the technical committee determines the entries for different categories and the committee is in the best position to decide whether certain courses qualifies for the entries in different positions, Karma Hamu Dorjee added.

“Nevertheless, there is still opportunities for the graduates including those who studied BHS to join the civil service,” Karma Hamu Dorjee said.

Any graduate can apply for the Post Graduate Diploma in Public Administration (PGDPA) and if the graduates are in the slot that the RCSE requires, they are taken into the civil service irrespective of their background, Kesang Deki added

Kesang Deki said that RUB had been informed to communicate to the commission if certain courses provided by universities are eligible for certain professional categories of positions in the civil service.

RCSE has announced 140 PGDE vacancies this year. The civil service will be recruiting 30 graduates for PGDPA and 30 and 10 for Post Graduate Diploma in Financial Management and Post Graduate Diploma in National Law respectively.

Another graduate who studied environment, Wangdi, questioned the commissioners why the intake of environment graduates in the civil service are less despite high demand for environmentalists in the market.

“The ratio between the number of candidates and job vacancies in the civil service is 1:27 while a report stated that the environment impact assessment reports in the country were conducted by foreigners,” Wangdi added.

Karma Hamu Dorjee said that environment is not the core business of the commission. The commission manages civil servants and recruits them.

“The way we recruit is driven by the demand of the sectors,” she said. “We support the sectors through recruitment, planning for recruitment, among others.”

Meanwhile, another graduate, Namgay Wangchuk said that job experience is one of the requirements for any vacancy which the graduates don’t have. He asked if there is any possibility that the commission comes up with a policy or rules to address the issue.

In response, Karma Hamu Dorjee said that RCSC recruits graduates without experience through examinations. The requirement is of the private sector and government doesn’t have control on their requirement.

However, government agencies like the labour ministry could set policies that prevent discrimination on recruitment.

Of a total of 2,734 registered, 2,229 graduates are attending the orientation programme this year.

Meanwhile, a total of 14,911 graduates, of which 8,322 were males, attended the orientation programme since 2010.

Dechen Tshomo

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