Education in Bhutan
This article needs to be updated.(November 2010) |
Western-style education was introduced to
The Human Rights Measurement Initiative (HRMI)[2] finds that Bhutan is fulfilling only 73.1% of what it should be fulfilling for the right to education based on the country's level of income.[3] HRMI breaks down the right to education by looking at the rights to both primary education and secondary education. While taking into consideration Bhutan's income level, the nation is achieving 73.8% of what should be possible based on its resources (income) for primary education but only 72.5% for secondary education.[4]
Royal Thimphu College
The RTC campus, covering an area of 25 acres in Ngabiphu provides a secure and pleasant living environment. The campus is located approximately 10 km from the center of Thimphu city, about a 25-minute drive on the expressway. The only international airport in the country at Paro is approximately a 1-hr drive from the College. The Campus consists of 34 main buildings. The various infrastructures include hostels for students, a canteen, dining hall, a football field with artificial turf, an outdoor basketball court, an outdoor futsal court, a multipurpose hall which houses indoor basketball and badminton courts, a well-equipped gymnasium, Auditorium, and a conference center.[5]
Five-Year Plans
The First
The core curriculum set by the National Board of Secondary Education included English, mathematics, and Dzongkha.[1] Although English was used as the language of instruction throughout the junior high and high school system, Dzongkha, and, in southern Bhutan until 1989, Nepali, were compulsory subjects.[1] Students also studied English literature, social studies, history, geography, general science, biology, chemistry, physics, and religion.[1] Curriculum development often has come from external forces, as was the case with historical studies.[1] Most Bhutanese history is based on oral traditions rather than on written histories or administrative records.[1] A project sponsored by UNESCO and the University of London developed a ten-module curriculum, which included four courses on Bhutanese history and culture and six courses on Indian and world history and political ideas.[1] Subjects with an immediate practical application, such as elementary agriculture, animal husbandry, and forestry, also were taught.[1]
Bhutan's coeducational school system in 1988 encompassed a reported 42,446 students and 1,513 teachers in 150 primary schools, 11,835 students and 447 teachers in 21 junior high schools, and 4,515 students and 248 teachers in 9 high schools.[1] Males accounted for 63 percent of all primary and secondary students.[1] Most teachers at these levels—70 percent—also were males.[1] There also were 1,761 students and 150 teachers in technical, vocational, and special schools in 1988.[1]
Despite increasing student enrollments, which went from 36,705 students in 1981 to 58,796 students in 1988, education was not compulsory.[1] In 1988 only about 25 percent of primary-school-age children attended school, an extremely low percentage by all standards.[1] Although the government set enrollment quotas for high schools, in no instance did they come close to being met in the 1980s.[1] Only about 8 percent of junior high-school-age and less than 3 percent of high-school-age children were enrolled in 1988.[1]
Bhutan's
Some primary schools and all junior high and high schools were
Higher education was provided by
Education programs were given a boost in 1990 when the
Most Bhutanese students being educated abroad received technical training in India, Singapore, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Britain, Germany, and the United States.[1] English-speaking countries attracted the majority of Bhutanese students.[1] The vast majority returned to their homeland.[1]
Women and education
The number of girls in Bhutan receiving an education is increasing however, women still fall behind men due to things such as early pregnancy and gender stereotypes.[7] Tertiary Education is a field in which Bhutanese women fall behind in, mainly due to high maternal mortality rates and early pregnancy.[7] However, the primary enrollment rate for girls attending school was 98.8%, compared to boys which was 97% in 2016.[8] This is due to the government increasing its investment in human capital in the last 30 years.[9]
Indian Teachers in Bhutan
Since the beginning of education in Bhutan, teachers from India, especially Kerala have served in some of the most remote villages of Bhutan. In honour to their service, 43 retired teachers who served for long time were invited to Thimphu, Bhutan during the teachers day celebrations in 2018 and individually thanked by His Majesty Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck. To celebrate 50 years of diplomatic relations between Bhutan and India, 80 teachers who served in Bhutan were honoured by the Education Minister Jai Bir Rai at a special ceremony organized in Kolkata, India on 6 January 2019.[10] Currently, there are 121 teachers from India placed in schools across Bhutan. On April 4, 2023 the spokesperson of the Indian Ministry of Foreign Relation confirmed that India would continue to extend educational assistance.[11]
See also
References
- ^ OCLC 27429416. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.)
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: postscript (link - ^ "Human Rights Measurement Initiative – The first global initiative to track the human rights performance of countries". humanrightsmeasurement.org. Retrieved 2022-03-13.
- ^ "Bhutan - HRMI Rights Tracker". rightstracker.org. Retrieved 2022-03-13.
- ^ "Bhutan - HRMI Rights Tracker". rightstracker.org. Retrieved 2022-03-13.
- ^ "RTC @ A Glance". Royal Thimphu College. Retrieved 2023-07-03.
- ^ "Bhutan". uis.unesco.org. 2016-11-27. Retrieved 2023-07-11.
- ^ a b "Bhutan Gains Ground on Gender Equality But Challenges Remain in Key Areas". The Asian Development Bank. 25 August 2014.
- ^ Lhaden, Tenzin. "Moving towards Gender Equality in Bhutan".
- ^ "Bhutan Gender Policy Note".
- ^ "Indian teachers who served in Bhutan honoured". BBS. 2019-01-08. Retrieved 2020-11-02.
- ^ "Special Briefing by Foreign Secretary on the visit of King of Bhutan to India". YouTube.