A good opportunity for the jobless

The launching of three courses at the Jigme Wangchuk Power Training Institute is a good initiative and should be welcomed and lauded. There are not many programmes that seem realistic than those launched at Gelephu.
In just more than a year, we will Bhutanese who will be able to fix or lay underground cable, transmission lines and maintain transformers. There are already Bhutanese in the same line of job, but it is good to see that more Bhutanese would be trained with skills that can guarantee jobs and solve the growing unemployment problem.
The institute is already thinking of providing training at international level. It is good and reflects the commitments of those behind the institute. But we can wait. The priority should be training as many young Bhutanese as possible and make them employable.
Like they said, the jobs are there with the Bhutan Power Corporation and Druk Green Power Corporation. And they pay well! We should see many young Bhutanese apply for the courses. Two courses are only for eight months.
Meanwhile, to the Bhutanese youth and young adults who are jobless, here is an opportunity. They should not think that they are Class XII graduates or university graduates. Times have changed and a degree certificate is not landing you a job. Such trainings are the real opportunities. As long as our graduates do not hesitate to grease their hand or hold a plyer in their hand and stop thinking of working on a table, the jobs the opportunity is real.
And mind you, there is a lot of opportunity in this field. Like the labour minister said, Bhutan’s goal of harnessing 10,000MW of power is ensure that the jobs are not short-term. They require in the thousands.
Graduates from the institutes need not stick with a company, if they don’t like, after they acquire the skills. They could form small firms, consultancies and start running their own business. Do not let the opportunity fly by.
The government should focus more on vocational and technical training like the one in Gelephu. We could have in so many areas to replace the hoards of expatriate workers. For instance, just to fix a roof gutter, these people charge about a thousand ngultrums. This is a job for 10 minutes. Some have the contact details of a hundred house owners in the capital. They live and save comfortably. These could be replaced by our own people.
The merits are many. We will solve a good dal of the unemployment problem, parents will see their children earn and live comfortably and our economy will grow. Economists say that real growth happens when jobs are created.