Education – Tshering Tobgay

Contrast and compare

March 25, 2013Education, Government4 Comments

Have you travelled on the Thimphu - Chunzom higway recently? Is so, you would have noticed a frenzy of construction activity at "Charkilo". What's being constructed is the road to the controversial Education City. For all the controversy surrounding the Education City, the government has made sure that the project has not suffered for want of attention or support. The cabinet has earmarked and approved the lease of 1000 acres of land as the government's equity for the project. A new company, DHI-Infra, was established two years ago to spearhead the project. A full board, with the works and…

Code language

March 1, 2013Economy, Education5 Comments

What we, as a country, need to do to rescue the Thimphu Tech Park. Yes, it will take a full generation to get there. But that's why we must start immediately, with a sense of urgency. http://youtu.be/nKIu9yen5nc

Ache Lhamo

November 23, 2012Education9 Comments

Sonam Dorji, 12 years, Class 5 Rinzin Norbu, 12 years, Class 4 Sangay Dorji, 12 years, Class 4 Namgay Chojay, 13 years, Class 4 Thinley Norbu, 11 years, Class 4 These five students go to Monmola community primary school, in distant Serti gewog, in the Shingkhar Lauri region. And boy, they can dance. I met them during my recent tour to Jumotshangkha, in the eastern-most part of our country. And they honoured me with an active performance of the very lively Ache Lhamo chham. The students say they took over a month to learn the historic Ache Lhamoi chham. They were taught…

Not so fast

April 22, 2012Education20 Comments

What do you make of this? The cabinet has reportedly “further ratified” the Education City project bid, and awarded the bid to a consortium of bidders (infinity Infotech Parks Ltd., and Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services Ltd.) It appears that a contract agreement will be signed this month following which work on a detailed project report will begin. Good? I don’t know. I still have serious misgivings about the size and feasibility of the project. True, education is a viable business, and we must harness its potential to service both local and foreign demand. But planting a bunch of…

An atrocious crime

March 4, 2012Education8 Comments

It's been three months since two students died and 31 became very ill at Orong HSS due to chronic vitamin deficiency. It's been three months, and finally, last Friday, the education minister announced his response to the disgraceful state of nutrition in our schools. First, the the education ministry has submitted a proposal to increase the school feeding stipend from Nu 700 to nu 1000 per month. Second, the ministry has formed a task force to investigate what happened and to assign responsibility to those involved. And third, the education and health ministries have decided to work together to…

Secondary tertiary policy

June 9, 2011Education, Government13 Comments

About a year ago, on the 26th of July 2010, the prime minister launched the Tertiary Education Policy. The policy, one of this government’s most significant declarations so far, aims to enrich tertiary education in the country by streamlining how colleges and universities are planned, funded, registered, licensed and accredited. The education minister described the 112-page policy as, “… a road map for the development and expansion of tertiary education in the country,” and boasted that it would contribute to making our country a “knowledge hub” and our people an “IT enabled knowledge society.” In his introduction to the…

Where’s equity?

May 18, 2011Education9 Comments

First, the good news: the government has granted autonomy to the Royal University of Bhutan. This means that the university can now concentrate on improving standards without the usual encumbrances of the bureaucracy. 4icu.org, a tertiary education search engine, places our university at a lowly 7,418 of the 10,000 universities they rank. Hopefully, their ranking is not accurate. Hopefully, the RUB will correct it to more accurately reflect their real ranking. And hopefully, RUB will improve on their real ranking. Naturally, a lot more is now possible – and expected – from our university. There's a lot of work…

Life in Ngangla

May 7, 2011Education7 Comments

Four special guests are in Thimphu. They are Sonam Zangmo, Sangay Dorji, Thinely Wangmo and Sangay Wangchuk. The guests, all of whom are more or less 12 years old, are in Class VI in Kagtong Community Primary School in Ngangla gewog, Zhemgang. Kagtong is a village in lower Kheng. The village does not have electricity and is not connected by motor road. The nearest road-head to Kagtong is in Panbang, from where it takes a day to reach the remote village. 25 students from Kagtong CPS recently took part in a two-week photography course. During the training they recorded…

Bonded teachers?

April 28, 2011Education20 Comments

Suppose you’ve just completed college. And suppose that you are a topper – that you’re in the top 5% of the graduates. Would you consider becoming a teacher? You should. For the sake of our children, you should. That, at least, is what McKinsey & Company suggest. About five years ago, McKinsey sought to find out why some schools succeed while others don’t. They did that by studying the school systems of 25 countries, including 10 of the top performers, to identify the common characteristics of high-performing school systems. McKinsey’s year-long study revealed that increased spending and ambitious education…

RUB fees?

April 8, 2011Education39 Comments

The RUB has accepted McKinsey's recommendation to charge fees to their students. This year, 10% of the students entering RUB's colleges will have to pay fees. And by 2013, 30% of them will have to do so. Is this a good idea? What do you think? Please share your thoughts. And please take the poll that asks "Should RUB charge fees?"

Examining exams

April 8, 2011Education2 Comments

Earlier this year, when the education ministry announced that they were thinking about doing away with written examinations for students of PP to Class III, I asked if phasing out the exams was a good idea. 41% of you said YES, exams should be discontinued for Classes PP to III. But 56% of you said NO, written exams should not be discontinued. The rest said that they were not sure. Thank you for taking the poll. The idea of doing away with examinations was first mooted at a GNH for Education conference. The education ministry considered the proposal, but…

No exams?

February 8, 2011Education

The education ministry is reportedly considering doing away with written examinations for students of PP to Class III. Please take the poll asking if phasing out exams for PP to Class III is a good idea. And please share your thoughts on this important issue.

Bhutan by Bhutanese

January 30, 2011Education5 Comments

Learning to express"Bhutan by Bhutanese" a photo-exhibition by students of the Bhutan Institute of Media is being hosted by the city of Baar in Switzerland. The exhibition, which will continue for the next three weeks, was innaugurated on the 29th of January. The banner features a photograph by Dorji Yuden, a student at BIM. I've uploaded a few more photos in the Gallery. Excerpts of my speech during the innauguration follow: We are gathered together as friends – friends of Bhutan. Some of you have visited my country. Some of you have worked there. But all of you – whether you’ve been…

Respect, honesty, pride

December 8, 2010Education

Thimphu Primary School graduated their first batch of students this morning. 21 children who had recently appeared for their first board exams received certificates from their principal, Ma’am Carolyn Tshering. In her final speech to her outgoing students, Ma’am Carolyn urged them to never forget the all-important values of respect, honesty and pride that their school had taught them. I’m reproducing her speech below to share her timeless message with students, teachers and parents throughout our country. This week’s banner celebrates primary education in Bhutan. Ladies and Gentlemen welcome to our first ever Graduation . In most western countries…

Kilu Music School

June 13, 2010Education

Are you a parent in Thimphu? If so, have you grumbled that the city does not provide enough after-school activities, especially during the holiday season, for your children? I have. I’ve often wished that Thimphu provided better opportunities to learn about art, literature, culture, religion, music and sports. But, I, like most parents, haven’t got round to organizing any constructive activity that would keep our children productively engaged during their free time. Not so, with the group of parents who, in 2005, decided to create opportunities for their children to learn music. And so they started Kilu Music School,…