According to the Kuensel Bhutan, the Bhutanese Department of Adult and Higher Education (DAHE) has issued a statement requesting all Bhutanese undergraduate students currently studying medicine to return home, should the ongoing strikes continue beyond the month of October. 

Reports confirm that the Bhutanese government had grown increasingly apprehensive on the political situation within the country and how in turn it would affect the Bhutan nationals studying in Sri Lanka. The Kuensel reports that the unrelenting stance taken by the GMOA and several student bodies prompted the DAHE to issue a circular requesting the students to return home.  

According to reports, the academic careers of 120 Bhutanese students have been hampered due to the ongoing strikes. 70 students have already returned while the remainder who are scattered in the universities of Colombo, Kelaniya and Peradeniya are yet to resume their education or return to their homeland.   

DAHE’s circular of August 16 states that all medical students of the three universities should prepare for departure by early November if the strike does not end by October this year. “The students will then have to wait in Bhutan until the situation in Sri Lanka improves or some alternative arrangement is made,” the circular stated.

Speaking to the media Senior Program Officer with the Scholarship and Student Support Division, Dolay Tshering stated that the continued delay of education will only hinder the careers of the Bhutanese students. It was also stated that provisions will be made for final year students to resume their education with the national referral hospital and Khesar Gyalpo University of Medical Sciences of Bhutan.  

The circular issued also mentions that all payments for Bhutanese medical students will be suspended until the situation in Sri Lanka is resolved.