December 3: The first batch of the Continuing Education Program are appearing the Bhutan Higher Secondary Education Certificate (BHSEC) and Bhutan Certificate of Secondary Education (BCSE) examinations, which started on December 1.

As the BHSEC and BCSE examinations began on December 1, the students of the Continuing Education Program were among thousands of other regular class 12 and 10 students sitting for the exams.

They are the first batch appearing the board exams. 96 are sitting for the BHSEC examination and 22 for BCSE examination.

The Continuing Education Program was introduced two years ago by the Education Ministry. It was started to give a second chance to school drop-outs and people who had to discontinue their studies for numerous reasons.

The Continuing Education Learners include house wives, school drop-outs, civil servants and private and corporate employees. They have been taking evening classes-from six to eight, at the Kelki Higher Secondary school.

The vice principal of the Kelki Higher Secondary School, Leela D. Sharma is the Coordinator of the Kelki Continuing Education centre. When asked if these students can go to universities if they qualify, he said this is one of the concerns.

The next academic session of the Continuing Education Program begins on 15th of February. There are 320 seats available.