Monday, December 1, 2008

Automobile engineering course at Changzamtog

The newly inaugurated Institute for Automobile Engineering at Changzamtog, Thimphu, is expected to absorb Class X dropouts, while also offering quality auto repairs.

Located at the old government workshop, the institute will offer a two-year long course on a modular basis in auto repairing and specialisation. The institute will produce quality auto mechanics in auto electric and panel electric, commonly known as denting and painting. It will also conduct skills upgradation and refresher course for in-service auto mechanics from private and government agencies on normal fees.

The principal of the institute, Sangye Wangchuk, said that it was the vision of the fourth Druk Gyalpo to establish a highly mechanised auto repair centre, which could act as a role model to all the auto repair workshops.

Sangye Wangchuk said that graduate students would have to look for their own jobs, while the government will absorb only about two percent. 27 students are already enrolled and being trained. However, the finance minister Lyonpo Wangdi Norbu, who inaugurated the institute on November 27, said that, with increasing number of vehicles in the country, the automobile institute would make it easier for trainees to find jobs more easily.

Built at a cost of Nu 20 million, funded by the Asian Development Bank and the government, the institute can train 60 students at a time. At present there are ten instructors and twenty-seven students, including five girls.

By Sonam Dechen

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