The Bhutanese Welfare Association in the UK (BWA) said it held a seminar titled ‘integration through education’ St. Andrew Church in Rochdale, Manchester, UK on July 27.
The organizer said, the seminar was aimed at promoting integration of Bhutanese students and youths into the wider British society, where altogether 20 participants from the community and guests from various sectors got involved.
The event, co-ordinated by Sitaram Pokhrel and Rekha Subba, and led by a team of four facilitators, Yam Khadka, Dr. Prakash Subedi, Dr Suresh Chhetri (Chauwan) and Bhadri Subedi, covered sessions on integration, integration and education, challenges of integration and success stories, among others, said the organizer.
The sessions were highly interactive with group activities, quizzes and question-answer chores that added practical benefits to the participants. Success stories and inspiring messages received from the supporters from across the Bhutanese diaspora and beyond were shared with the participants, added the organizer.
BWA has also claimed that the seminar offered an opportunity for the Bhutanese youths and students to discuss the challenges they face in their journey to integration, thereby inspiring them to take up higher education to better equip themselves to combat these challenges.
In his opening speech, Durga Giri, Chairman of BWA, highlighted the importance of education through integration and voiced his determination in organising such seminars and conferences in the forthcoming day.
“Education is the first step towards achieving integration. Education should incorporate learning life skills, so such colloquiums are indispensable for youths and students to cope with full spectrum of integration challenges”, said Giri.
Further, appreciating the contributions by a team of highly skilled facilitators from with the Bhutanese community who have successfully negotiated integration challenges, Giri called the event as a unique learning opportunity for the youths and students.
The seminar ended with distribution of certificates to all the participants, facilitators, volunteers and observers.
