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Known to us as Bhutan, the Land of the Thunder Dragon has been closed to the outside world for centuries. But since the 1960s and 1970s, it has embraced Westernization, albeit in its own way. For example, its overall philosophy of national happiness is a carefully constructed framework to guide the nation’s government, regularly monitoring the general welfare of the citizen and sustainable development.
The Friedrich Naumann Foundation shared that the general literacy rate here is 71.4%, and modern education, which was not fully accepted until after the 1950s (until then, the region relied mostly on monastic education), was “the great equalizer, responsible for picking out the classes the less fortunate in society from poverty and improve their chances of success in adulthood.”
Most of us may not know that the Indian state of Kerala has been instrumental in shaping this modern education system to be the way we know it today. In fact, it was written by V Shantakumar and Phuntsho Choden This paper is 2018 For Azim Premji University he said, “Almost everyone over the age of 25-30 (in Bhutan) has been taught by one or another teacher from Kerala.”
Bhutan before 1960
Until the 1960s, students in Bhutan mostly owned Buddhist monasteries to receive private education. While diplomats and children of royal families were sent to India and Europe for education, the rest of the population relied mostly on religious learning.
Author Ajay Kamalakaran writes: “By the early 1950s, the ruling dynasty recognized the need to modernize education in the country, even if they wanted to continue to keep Bhutan isolated from the rest of the world.” to unmanorma. “The first step was to establish Indian medium schools in the country, adopting the Indian system almost entirely from the neighboring state of West Bengal.”
William Mackey, a Jesuit priest who is credited with creating the modern education system in Bhutan, is called upon in the book The Call: Stories of Yesterday, “The second king, Jigme Dorji, established 7 to 10 Indian medium schools, in Bumthang, Ha, Wangde, Taichang, Dampho, and Paro. This was the beginning of the present Bhutanese education system.”
Mackie also notes that the third king, Ugyen Dorji Wangchuck, wanted to establish English medium schools, for which the government approached the Jesuits at St Joseph’s College, North Point, Darjeeling, in 1962. Kamalakaran argues that the proximity of the two areas – both in culture And also in geography – making this relevant.
Meanwhile, Mackie credited Lyonpo Dawa Tsering, then Secretary of the Ministry of Development, for slowly replacing Hindi textbooks with English ones. “His late King and late Prime Minister asked me to establish an English medium education system, on the basis of the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education. Mr. Rustomji, the then political officer of Bhutan, promised that he would enroll our secondary schools in the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education.”
building modern education
In 1962, impressed by the quality of Kerala’s primary education system, Tsering went on a recruiting trip in the far south. He recruited 20 teachers and returned to southeastern Bhutan. These twenty teachers later became the pioneers of the modern education system in the country.
They reached Samdrup Jongkhar, where they were given food rations and a little money. They began to walk (there were no roads at that time in the East), from village to village.” Macky wrote. He (Tsering) left teachers in each school. He told them he would take them after about 10 months. Some of these, like Mr. and Mrs. R. Krishnan, Recently retired.”
Teachers would walk miles in freezing temperatures to meet in cities like Lhuentse, which is 452km from the capital, Thimphu. “They were very devoted and dedicated teachers, who gave their whole lives for the education of Bhutan. Their contribution to our current education system in the early years was enormous. Without their dedicated and sincere teaching in isolated, difficult rural areas, Bhutan could not have reached its high level,” Macky added. Current education in boarding schools.
The teachers helped build the schools from the ground up with the help of students and local residents. The makeshift classrooms with bamboo and thatch roofs became a haven for eager learners. The students also helped the teachers prepare meals for them. Kamalakaran BooksAnd Children were sent to collect firewood for simple porridge and vegetables. When the latter was not available, wild ferns were collected by children and teachers.”
Jigme Zangpo, one of the first student teachers from Kerala, noted in the post that after their arrival, the education system started to include physical training, drama and cultural activities in its curriculum as well.
In 2014, the current King of Bhutan, Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, noted that “India has always played a vital role in education in Bhutan. Bhutanese youths routinely study in Indian institutions, thus they pass on their knowledge to Bhutan as well.”
“Manna”
Connection He mentions the names of a few of the 20 teachers who went to Bhutan, including PB Nair, M Prasad, GB Kurup, MKG Kaimal, R Sivadasan, and Mr. and Mrs. R Krishnan.
Prasad, who lived for 11 years in the country, recounted, “Being in the Inquisition for 11 years gave me experience of knowing the people, culture, traditions and their way of life in urban, rural and remote areas in an elaborate way.”
He also tells Kurup’s animated account of living in the country for 26 years.
Kurup recalls that in 1962, after walking for 10 days, he arrived at his school in Trongsa in the dead of night. Suffering from a bad knee and surprised by the solitude of the small village, he wondered if he had made the right choice by quitting his high-paying job to teach in this remote area.
After a while, two children – a boy and a girl – woke him up at his door. They handed him a kettle of water and red rice and Mother Dachi (national dish of Bhutan). “I accepted the ‘manna’ gratefully. I tried to thank them. They continued laughing. They said something. I didn’t understand the language but I did understand the meaning. ‘Sir, as long as we’re here, you don’t have to worry.’ Language cannot create a barrier between love and passion.”
Kurup remarked, “I had to fight back my tears of happiness. I’ve changed my mind. I’m going to work for these kids. I’m going to give everything I have to make them better (sic) people.”
Edited by Divya Sethu
sources:
The Call: Stories of Yesterday; Educational Research and Development Centre, Department of Education, Rinpung, NIE, Paro
An overview of education and its transformation in BhutanBy: Karma Choden for the Friedrich Neumann Stiftung. Posted on December 12, 2022
How Malayali teachers helped build Bhutan’s education systemWritten by: Ajay Kamalakaran; Posted on July 12, 2021
Bhutan: Education in IndiaBy: Mihir Bonsal for the Observer Research Foundation
“India’s role in Bhutanese education is vital”By: Priyanka Kachava for The Times of India. Posted on October 5, 2014
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