The people, especially those at Pemathang in Samdrup Jongkhar, Jamtsholing in Samtse, Gyalpoishing in Mongar and Khotokha in Wangduephodrang, will see something they have never seen before; scores of vehicles carrying young budding Bhutanese to the respective Gyalsung centers, the roads to these centers optimally utilized for the first time. And the centers will never be what they were. Instead, they enter Bhutan’s annals as the institutions where the first Gyalsung National Service was held.
It is also a moment for all Bhutanese to celebrate as the Royal vision translates to reality, thus opening the path for a special program for our children, ourselves and the country. The objectives of Bhutan’s National Service were made public, since His Majesty announced the Program during the 113th National Day celebrations.
It is to equip the youth with the knowledge, skills, and values necessary to realize their potential in a rapidly changing world. It is aimed to enable them to contribute effectively to national goals and aspirations; empower young people with the capabilities and attributes required for academic and professional success, enhance their understanding of the country’s challenges, and actively engage them in devising and implementing collective solutions.
It will provide the opportunity to each and every Bhutanese youth to actualize their innate potential and become productive and worthy citizens in the service of the Tsa-Wa-Sum. By instituting the program, His Majesty has lifted the weights we carry – especially to mentor and make our children productive. We are not good at it. Thus a visionary King, aware of the challenges confronted today and that in the future stepped in.
Apart from other objectives, the program’s role in fostering unity, along with national interest is very crucial. Many preachers and leaders at different rungs have said that a small country like Bhutan cannot afford to be divided.
However, none took the responsibility to ensure there are no divisions. Instead citizens are divided along political lines; fortunately not the youth. In the halls of the four great centers, the Gyelsars will learn the virtues of taking responsibility and the strength of unity. Seeds of the tree called Gyalsung First Cohort 2024 will be sown, which will unite the Gyelsars forever.
One may say we have whatever the program intends to equip our children with. It may be there, but from what is happening, we can conclude that virtues associated with Bhutanese are either dormant or dead. The program will revitalize these virtues if dormant, while equipping them with what they have lost.
Who is a human being who is disciplined, independent, skilled, confident, aware about values, the needs of his/her country..? He/She is a good human being, a good Bhutanese citizen. And it is the values of the good that our Gyelsers should imbibe. In many ways, the National Service is a journey to cultivating true humanity.
