President of NRC says Bhutan can leapfrog Higher Educational Institutions

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There are several people who in their own capacities have contributed immensely to the development of Bhutan in different ways. One is Dr. (Ph.D.) Tandin Dorji, founding and serving President of Norbuling Rigter College (NRC) Paro, who continues to contribute in the development of Bhutan’s education system. With a doctorate in Social Anthropology and Post Gradate Certificate in Education, Dr. Tandin has been an educationist and a researcher for over 20 years. He is also the founding member of Institute for Management Studies (IMS), RigZom Academy and Centre for Research on Bhutanese Society and currently Chairperson of History and Civics Committee, Department of Curriculum and Professional Development (erstwhile REC). 
In this exclusive with The Journalist, Dr. (Ph.D.) Tandin Dorji talks about NRC, challenges confronted, required reforms in the education system and others. The President of NRC says he genuinely believes Bhutan can leapfrog Higher Educational Institutions of other countries and become an international education hub given Bhutan’s safe and favourable environment

1. Could you give us a brief account of the Norbuling Rigter College (NRC)? 
Norbuling Rigter College was established in July 2017 with 91 students pursuing Bachelor of Commerce and Bachelor of Business Administration. There were eight faculty, six administrative and technical staff and 10 support staff. Today, in 2022, the College offers six programmes which are BBA, B. Com, BA in English, BA in Development Studies, BA in Political Science and Sociology and BA in Dzongkha and English to 700 plus students. There are 80 staff (38 faculty, 14 administrative and technical staff and 28 support staff).  NRC also offers BBA and B. Com as Part Time Education.  
NRC has made remarkable progress since its establishment. 

2. What makes NRC different from other colleges in Bhutan?
College campuses of RUB share many commonalities but they also have their own unique fabrics. One element that sets NRC apart from other Colleges is that it is striving to infuse Bhutanese values, tradition and culture in the college life consciously. Further, while it is a private college, NRC has taken a bold move to focus on discipline at the risk of loosing on student admission.  
NRC also plans to be a learning campus, with more students studying as day scholars. This will allow the college management to focus fully on ensuring quality of academic programmes offered. This will be one distinguishing fabric of NRC in the near future. 

3. What are the challenges NRC faces?
The main challenge faced by NRC is establishing linkages. As a private infant college, the international educational institutions are not too keen to create linkages as they perceive that they have very little to learn or gain from a newly established college. 

4. Private colleges have reduced the number of Bhutanese students going to India for studies. What do you think the government should do to further retain students to study within Bhutan?
Establishment of private colleges have facilitated Bhutanese students to study in Bhutan. However, Bhutanese youth will continue to go out, mainly to India, to pursue their higher education resulting from the eligibility criteria to get admitted in RUB Colleges. Thus, I feel that the Government should now start investing in quality facilities and quality academic programmes of constituent colleges. The shift should now be on quality rather than building more colleges to retain students who have performed poorly in their class XII. 

5. Reform in education is one of His Majesty's concerns. What do you think are the reforms required?
His Majesty is deeply concerned about quality of school and university education and has called for reforms. I feel some of the areas where reforms could be initiated in RUB Colleges are in the following areas: 

(i) Diversification of academic programmes: The Colleges should be facilitated to diversify the academic programmes that they offer. Currently, the options are limited. This is why same programmes are offered on different campuses producing many graduates with the same educational background which has correlation to employment opportunities. For instance, BBA and B. Com is offered at GCBS and the same programme is borrowed and offered at Royal Thimphu College and NRC also. Thus, it has become critical to diversify the programmes and align it to the job market and ensure academic quality so that there are more options and consequently employment opportunities. 
 
(ii) Investment in research: While all the colleges publish research journal, the publications do not have any impact. Colleges should invest in research that contributes not only to extend the pool of knowledge but to advance economic development and assist the society.  

(iii) Invest in quality of education and facilities: One of the main reform focus should be to invest in offering quality academic programmes. For this, investment should also be made in quality resources and facilities. 

(iv) Align academic programmes with job market (specific in nature):  As an academic institution, most of the programmes offered by RUB do not align well with the job market. Today, the nature of employment has become very specific but RUB Colleges offer academic programmes which are mostly theoretical and not skills based. Blending theories and skills in all the programmes is linchpin of higher education reforms.

6. What are the future plans of NRC?
NRC is striving to launch new programmes which aligns with the Economic Roadmap of Bhutan.  Against this background, the College has already developed Bachelor in Tourism Management and Bachelor in Hotel Management. It will be reviewed by RUB and if the vetting process is successful, NRC is hopeful of offering both the programmes by July 2023 or 2024. 
NRC is working on infusing a dynamic research culture in its academic life to enrich teaching and learning experiences. 
It also has an ambitious target to participate in the internationalization of academic programmes. 
Further, investing in ICT enabled teaching and learning environment and capitalizing on this is the key development focus of NRC. This will enable the college to stay abreast with emerging academic developments and prepare students who are equipped with necessary skills and knowledge that responds to the need of the job opportunities. 
In essence, the main strategic direction of NRC is to invest in quality ICT enabled education. 

7. Any other comments
As indicated earlier, the Government should now invest in ensuring quality facilities of the constituent colleges which has direct implication on academic quality. This will oblige the private colleges to follow suit. 
RUB should also strategize and cap number of students to be admitted in each programme. This will oblige the colleges to design and offer innovative and relevant academic programmes. 
I genuinely believe that Bhutan can leapfrog Higher Educational Institutions of other countries and become an international education hub given its safe and favourable environment. Education could become one of the major sources of revenue for Bhutan. Therefore, I feel that time is opportune to invest in offering quality and innovative academic programme.