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Bhutan Education
Western-style education was introduced to Bhutan during
the
reign of Ugyen Wangchuck (1907-26). Until the 1950s, the
only
formal education available to Bhutanese students, except
for
private schools in Ha and Bumthang, was through Buddhist
monasteries. In the 1950s, several private secular schools
were
established without government support, and several others
were
established in major district towns with government
backing. By the
late 1950s, there were twenty-nine government and thirty
private
primary schools, but only about 2,500 children were
enrolled.
Secondary education was available only in India.
Eventually, the
private schools were taken under government supervision to
raise
the quality of education provided. Although some primary
schools in
remote areas had to be closed because of low attendance,
the most
significant modern developments in education came during
the period
of the First Development Plan (1961-66), when some 108
schools were
operating and 15,000 students were enrolled
(see Role of the Government
, this ch.).
The First Development Plan provided for a central
education
authority--in the form of a director of education
appointed in
1961--and an organized, modern school system with free and
universal primary education. Since that time, following
one year of
preschool begun at age four, children attended school in
the
primary grades--one through five. Education continued with
the
equivalent of grades six through eight at the junior high
level and
grades nine through eleven at the high school level. The
Department
of Education administered the All-Bhutan Examinations
nationwide to
determine promotion from one level of schooling to the
next.
Examinations at the tenth-grade level were conducted by
the Indian
School Certificate Council. The Department of Education
also was
responsible for producing textbooks; preparing course
syllabi and
in-service training for teachers; arranging training and
study
abroad; organizing interschool tournaments; procuring
foreign
assistance for education programs; and recruiting,
testing, and
promoting teachers, among other duties.
The core curriculum set by the National Board of
Secondary
Education included English, mathematics, and Dzongkha.
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.
Students also
studied English literature, social studies, history,
geography,
general science, biology, chemistry, physics, and
religion.
Curriculum development often has come from external
forces, as was
the case with historical studies. Most Bhutanese history
is based
on oral traditions rather than on written histories or
administrative records. A project sponsored by the United
Nations
Education, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (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.
Subjects
with an immediate practical application, such as
elementary
agriculture, animal husbandry, and forestry, also were
taught.
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. Males
accounted
for 63 percent of all primary and secondary students. Most
teachers
at these levels--70 percent--also were males. There also
were 1,761
students and 150 teachers in technical, vocational, and
special
schools in 1988.
Despite increasing student enrollments, which went from
36,705
students in 1981 to 58,796 students in 1988, education was
not
compulsory. In 1988 only about 25 percent of
primary-school-age
children attended school, an extremely low percentage by
all
standards. Although the government set enrollment quotas
for high
schools, in no instance did they come close to being met
in the
1980s. Only about 8 percent of junior high-school-age and
less than
3 percent of high-school-age children were enrolled in
1988.
Bhutan's literacy rate in the early 1990s, estimated at
30
percent for males and 10 percent for females by the United
Nations
Development Programme (UNDP), ranked lowest among all
least
developed countries. Other sources ranked the literacy
rate as low
as 12 to 18 percent.
Some primary schools and all junior high and high
schools were
boarding schools. The school year in the 1980s ran from
March
through December. Tuition, books, stationery, athletic
equipment,
and food were free for all boarding schools in the 1980s,
and some
high schools also provided clothing. With the assistance
of the
United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization's World
Food
Programme, free midday meals were provided in some primary
schools.
Higher education was provided by Royal Bhutan
Polytechnic just
outside the village of Deothang, Samdrup Jongkhar
District, and by
Kharbandi Technical School in Kharbandi, Chhukha District.
Founded
in 1973, Royal Bhutan Polytechnic offered courses in
civil,
mechanical, and electrical engineering; surveying; and
drafting.
Kharbandi Technical School was established in the 1970s
with UNDP
and International Labour Organisation assistance. Bhutan's
only
junior college--Sherubtse College in Kanglung, Tashigang
District--
was established in 1983 as a three-year degree-granting
college
affiliated with the University of Delhi. In the year it
was
established with UNDP assistance, the college enrolled 278
students, and seventeen faculty members taught courses in
arts,
sciences, and commerce leading to a bachelor's degree.
Starting in
1990, junior college classes also were taught at the
Yanchenphug
High School in Thimphu and were to be extended to other
high
schools thereafter.
Education programs were given a boost in 1990 when the
Asian Development Bank (see Glossary)
granted a US$7.13 million
loan for
staff training and development, specialist services,
equipment and
furniture purchases, salaries and other recurrent costs,
and
facility rehabilitation and construction at Royal Bhutan
Polytechnic. The Department of Education and its Technical
and
Vocational Education Division were given a US$750,000
Asian
Development Bank grant for improving the technical,
vocational, and
training sectors. The New Approach to Primary Education,
started in
1985, was extended to all primary and junior high schools
in 1990
and stressed self-reliance and awareness of Bhutan's
unique
national culture and environment.
Most Bhutanese students being educated abroad received
technical training in India, Singapore, Japan, Australia,
New
Zealand, Britain, the Federal Republic of Germany (West
Germany),
and the United States. English-speaking countries
attracted the
majority of Bhutanese students. The vast majority returned
to their
homeland.
Data as of September 1991
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