A total of eleven questions were raised to the Cabinet Ministers during the Question Hour today, six questions to the Minister for Health and five questions to the Minister for Education and Skills Development.

The Minister for Education and Skills Development was questioned on the rationale for the graduates of the College of Language and Cultural Studies, Sheldra and Institute of Science of Mind  to sit for math paper during the Preliminary Exams although it has no relevance to their fields of study, Government’s criteria and transparency in selection for higher education of Arts students, the basis for limiting the age at 16 years for disabled children in Special Education Needs (SEN) Schools and the possibility of increasing the age limit, the rationale behind the continued usage of online classes even after the pandemic, which was actually introduced during the pandemic to impart lessons to children who couldn’t go to schools physically, and new ideas and measures taken up by the Ministry to address the shortage of teachers in schools.

Regarding the measures taken up by the Ministry to address the shortage of teachers in schools, the Minister submitted that the responsibility for the recruitment of contract teachers has been handed over to the Dzongkhags in consultation with the Royal Civil Service Commission (RCSC) to shorten the process for recruitment. It was also submitted that the Ministry in consultation with RCSC has increased the retirement age and also recruited the interested retired teachers on contract. The Minister also reported that the Schools have the authority to recruit  substitute teachers as per their requirement and the upcoming graduates from the Education Colleges will be placed in schools right after graduation before going through the Royal Civil Service Examinations. He also submitted that a report on the human resources requirement of the Ministry has been submitted to the Royal University of Bhutan to strategise a way forward.

Questions on the status of the establishment of a health service centre at Sertena village under Gakiling Gewog, information on fulfilling the basic requirements of Laya and Longu sub-posts, and Gasa Hospital, current referral issues, challenges and measures being implemented to improve the referral system in health sector, status and the Government’s strategies to ensure the delivery of health services without being compromised in the midst of high attrition rate among Health Professionals, Government’s corrective measures being planned regarding the dwindling quality of services provided in the JDWNRH Hospital, and the challenges and inconveniences faced by the public due to the relocation of dental services to Taba were raised to the Minister for Health.

On the Government’s strategies to ensure the delivery of health services without being compromised in the midst of a high attrition rate among Health Professionals, the Minister submitted that the attrition rate in the health sector as of May 2023 is 4.46% which is not a cause of concern.  The Minister added,  that according to the international literature, an attrition rate of  10% and above should be a concern. Despite this,  the Minister informed that the Ministry has developed a HR dashboard wherein if the attrition rate reaches 5%, the Ministry will recruit replacement for those who have left and remobilization of human resources will be carried out. The House was also informed that if the attrition rate goes up to 8-9%, services expansion will be stopped as a short term plan and for the long term, investment on the Human Resource and institutional strengthening is being carried  towards which an MBBS program is to be started  from September 2023 in the country. It was also reported that a vision for the health sector for the 21st Century has been framed and that the nursing slots in private colleges have been increased by almost 160% which  is expected to improve the situation in a few years.

Question Hours are conducted every Tuesday and Friday mornings.