Nim Dorji | Trongsa

Come July, College of Language and Culture Studies (CLCS) will launch its new degree courses in Dzongkha and Culture studies which would replace Bhutanese Himalayan Studies (BHS).

The new programme is for a four-year course and the college will enrol 80 students in the first batch.

The student who wants to enrol in the new programme need not have to have 50 percent in English like earlier courses.

CLCS President Lungten Gyatso said that as BHS was focused on history many students did not get a job after graduation. BHS course began in 2013 and seven batches graduated so far.

President said that undergrad is not only for a job, but an important foundation for pursuing masters and PhD degrees.

President Lungten Gyatso said, “The new courses are aligned with the college’s mandate to promote our language.”

He said that so far the college had been admitting students equally good in Dzongkha and English.

“Many students are extremely good at Dzongkha but they are unable to score more than 50 percent in English. So they are unable to get in,” the president said. “Now even students who have just passed class XII with distinguished marks in Dzongkha will get in.”

The quality of Dzongkha students joining the Dzongkha and Culture program will be far better than the earlier ones, he said.

The curriculum will have 99 percent Dzongkha focused subjects and students will study academic writing in English and ICT.

After completing the four-years course they would be taken in as Dzongkha teacher candidates in Paro College of Education.

Lungten Gyatso said that the students will be further trained in teaching and learning Dzongkha Pedagogy in addition to the Dzongkha language competency they would have gained during their four years course.