Social and Cultural Affairs Committee visits Draktsho East and Sherubtse College
This
morning, the Social and Cultural Affairs Committee (SCAC) conducted a
consultation meeting at Draktsho East in Kanglung, Trashigang.
Draktsho
East, established in 2010 is a branch of the Draktsho vocational training
center in Thimphu and operates as a boarding school for 61 students.
The center offers vocational courses such as traditional arts and painting, embroidery, weaving, music, and tailoring.
During the meeting, the Members asked how the staff catered to training the children whose ages ranged from 8 years to 35 years with a wide range of disabilities, as well as what kind of success and challenges were being faced in operating the only vocational training center in the east.
Committee
members also toured classrooms, engaged with students, and assessed the
boarding facilities.
In the afternoon, the committee held an open discussion at Sherubtse College on the state of disability in Bhutan, engaging both President, faculty and students.
The student participants represented various clubs such as Y-Peer, Y-Via, Bhutan Youth Foundation, Tarayana, and more.
During the discussion, the committee provided an overview of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) and the National Policy for Persons with Disabilities 2019. The committee also discussed some of the findings from national and international literature as well as the concerns and contributions of national Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) in supporting persons with disabilities.
Participants raised concerns regarding higher education and limited employment opportunities for persons with disabilities, lack of door to door healthcare services for persons living in remote areas as well as the need for a disability allowance.
The committee tour was made possible with the support of UNDP and UNICEF.
