Candidates who possess FLT certificate will not be required to sit the test

Election: Lack of candidates with functional literacy test (FLT) certificate has been one of main the problems facing local government elections.

It is expected, however, that the number of eligible candidates is likely to increase when the Election Commission of Bhutan (ECB) holds a round of FLT on April 30.

FLT centres will be taken to gewogs to make it easily accessible to the people. Aspiring candidates from dzongkhag thromdes will sit the test at the dzongkhag election offices.

The test will be conducted in all 205 gewogs and 17 dzongkhag thromdes. The second phase of the local government elections will take place in July.

Chief Election Officer Phub Dorji said the questions will cover letter writing and basic mathematics, among others. “Letter writing is one of the important skills required for local leaders,” he said.

Phub Dorji added that candidate’s analytical skills and current affairs knowledge will be tested. They will also have to read and understand passages.

According to a record, 5,165 probable candidates possess FLT certificates.

Registered voters between the ages of 25 and 65 can register for the test. FLT certificate is mandatory for those vying for the posts of gup, mangmi, tshogpa and thuemi.

Registration form can either be downloaded form from ECB’s website or procured from dzongkhag election and gewog thromde offices. The forms should be submitted to the dzongkhag election office or the gewog office by April 15.

Candidates who possess FLT certificate will not be required to sit the test.

MB Subba