As a part of the academic partnership between the Royal Thimphu College and SEISA University of Japan, group of 10 students and one faculty are in Japan on a 2 week cultural visit from 9-24 February 2013.

During the 2 weeks exchange program, the RTC students will be exposed to a variety of enriching activities such as Japanese culture, history, customs, traditions, education, sports and language. They will also learn Japanese taiko drumming, Japanese flower arrangement, wearing the Japanese Kimono and attend the Japanese Noh Play.

The students will also attend lectures on contemporary concerns such as environmental issue by visiting the Tokyo Waste Disposal Factory, the Japanese Health Care System. During their visit they will also meet with mayors of cities in Japan like Oiso, and Soma city. As part of their cultural exposure, they will have opportunities to visit important sites such as Edo-Tokyo Construction Museum and Ninomiya bldg Matsushima, the National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation, the zoological gardens, the tsunami damaged areas, etc. The group will also participate in the SEISA Pre 10 Years Anniversary Symposium where they will be making a short presentation on Bhutan.

While RTC has hosted about three dozen international students at its campus in the past 3 years, this is the second time that RTC students have travelled abroad. This is also the first international travel experience for most of the participants and RTC hopes that the exposure gained will help the students to get a better understanding of Japan and of the world at large.

The funding for the students is based on the partnership with SEISA University. The costs for six students were fully or partially subsidized, four students have borne their own travel costs while the college has arranged for all the expenses in Japan in collaboration with SEISA. In return, RTC also hosted a similar number of Japanese students in September 2012 and is looking forward to hosting them again in March 2013.

RTC currently has international partnerships with three institutions in the US, Switzerland and Japan and hopes to keep expanding such collaborations so as to provide enriching opportunities for its students.

November 14, 2012 - Royal Thimphu College held its Second Annual Career Fair. The Career Development Center at RTC invited 25 speakers from diverse corporations, companies, and organizations to speak to groups of students about their professions, explaining the details and opportunities of jobs in various sectors, and the skills and other attributes needed to be successful. 

A special emphasis was placed on entrepreneurship, consistent with the fact that the career fair occurred during Global Entrepreneurship Week which the Loden Foundation is promoting for the first time this year in Bhutan.

The fair opened in the College Auditorium with the RTC Director outlining the steps the RTC is taking to prepare students for their future careers. His remarks were followed by a very informative keynote address by Mr. Gerard Tardy, Loden Entrepreneurship Director, who discussed the skills and attitudes that contribute to creating a successful entrepreneurship.

The presenters, including officials from banks, the media, information technology, tourism, foundations, and the teaching profession, adjourned to 25 classrooms to speak to rotating groups of students. The diverse group of presenters also included entrepreneurs, consultants and representatives from fashion design, the film industry, hospitality, police, and the politics sector.  Presentations were followed by an informal meeting between internship-seeking students and those entities offering internships during the winter break. 

This half-day event was designed to foster communication between the RTC community and the professional community and to help prepare students for success in the world of work. 

On 10th October 2012, the RTC community welcomed Francoise Pommaret to its campus to deliver a talk on a very fascinating topic, "A journey of Bhutan through a life lens". Ms. Pommaret's talk focused on her experiences in Bhutan since 1979, which she shared with the students and staff of the college.

She discussed with the curious audience the changes that have taken place in Bhutan over several decades, stating "The development that took place in the past 20 years is very admirable as it is what Europe did in the past 100 years". She also spoke about the minimal communication system available when she first came here and how the difficulties in transportation impeded the development of the strong and supportive community that we presently have. She pointed out amazing changes that have occurred with rapid growth in the initially tiny business community, the expansion of the health and education systems, the development of urban centers, and progress in the national language, awareness of culture, etc.

Although of French nationality, Francoise Pommaret grew up in the Congo. She received her MA in the history of art and archeology from the Sorbonne in Paris and completed her studies in the Tibetan language at the National Institute of Oriental Languages and Civilizations, INALCO also in Paris.. Her work mainly focuses on Bhutan; she conducts lectures around the world on aspects of Bhutanese history and culture. She also currently serves as advisor to the Institute of Language and Culture Studies (ILCS), Royal University of Bhutan.

It was indeed a wonderful opportunity for the RTC community to listen to Ms. Francoise Pommaret and to learn about an era in Bhutan which most of the students & staff have not experienced.