Yangyel Lhaden
The government has allocated Nu one billion from the economic stimulus plan to support one youth from each household to study abroad. However, households must meet specific criteria to qualify for this fund.
These criteria include: no household member having previously studied abroad, the household lacking financial means to support a youth abroad, and the youth intending to study abroad demonstrating strong academic performance. Additionally, the government is currently assessing whether to provide the funds with no interest or at a low-interest rate.
The initiative to support youth from households to study abroad is one of the government’s pledges.
During the election, the government pledged to support a youth from a household where no member has previously gone abroad to study. The government promised that if they won the election, they would provide concessionary education loans to pay tuition fees for the first semester.
There are 164,331 households in the country according to the Bhutan Living Standard Survey Report 2022.
Considering that 10,000 households, less than seven percent of total households meet the criteria, and dividing the total fund of Nu one billion among these 10,000 households, each household would receive Nu 100,000 to support a youth to study abroad.
Lyonchhen Tshering Tobgay said that Nu one billion was not small; in millions, it was 100 million, which was huge. “If the fund is insufficient and there are more eligible households, the government will increase the fund.”
“There will be a strict screening process and not all households will be eligible for the fund,” Lyonchhen said. “ This fund is solely for youth who excel in academics but the family cannot afford to send the youth abroad due to financial constraints.”
Lyonchhen said that it would be difficult to provide the fund to all youth from humble families if they did not have good academic results, as they would need to repay the loan to the government.
The government is currently working on financing the Nu one billion youth fund, and youths could soon start availing of the service.