COUNTRY PAPER.......BHUTAN.

Location and Culture

Amongst many tiny countries in the world, yet another tiny independent country located in the heart of high himalayan mountains in asia is so called Bhutan. One of the few last Buddhist countries in the world, Bhutan is sandwiched between the worlds two most populous countries, china to the north and india to the other three sides. This tiny countrys geographical land features begins from 200 metres above sea level and goes as high up to 7500metres above the sea level. Bhutan is the only Buddhist kingdom in the world, inhabited by about little more than half a million people,700,000 (approximately). It is the home to several endangered species one can encounter in the wild; she has managed to stay unspoiled by mass tourism. Wherever you are in the kingdom, all still breathes purity. This small country offers you subtropical densely wooded valleys, savannah grasslands, bamboo jungles, traditionally cultivated land and high himalayan mountains with eternal snow. Bhutan is the country of a stunning and wide variety of flora and fauna, amazing architecture, ancient traditions, impressive monasteries, a deeply revered king, remarkably friendly people and unique colourful culture. Here buddhism is a natural way of life and the whole country breathes peace, tranquillity, enchantment, joy and age-old wisdom. Its also the country having introduced gross national happiness to the world as an alternative for the economical gross national product, thereby inspiring many other countries to look at happiness and development in a different, richer way. Spread across an area of 47,000 sq kms. It is a mountainous country with rich in white gold (river system).with 72.5% of its land mass under forest coverage; only around 5 % of the land is arable and rest are rugged terrain mountains. Most of our people are dependent on agriculture (traditional method). Until a couple of decades ago, Bhutan has remained partially opened to the outside world, tourist visited the country in few countable figures. But now, due to globalization, Bhutan has opened its door to the outside world and number of tourists visiting the country has sky rocketed. Bhutan becomes a tourist destination for it unique, undying culture, rich bio diversity and all in all for remaining green and in touch with the natural environment. Television and internet facilities arrived only in 1999.

The traditional dress for men is called gho and kira for women. Every Bhutanese take pride in wearing this dress on all official and festivity purposes. However, now our youth are picking up the taste of western and korean fashions, so they wear fancy dresses on casual time. While visiting the state government offices, court and monasteries, it is mandate that every Bhutanese men wear kabney a white scarf and rachu for women, this is to show our respect and humbleness to our law. All the office bearers beginning from his majesty the king, royal family down to the students and farmers always wear the traditional dress for all sort of official gatherings, in fact, we do have many of our senior citizens working in their agricultural fields in the traditional dress. The colourful costumes and variety of mask dances, folk dances and other traditional procedures adds to the beauty of our unique culture. The prayer
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flag fluttering on every high hills, across the bridges and around the houses adds to the sweet melodies of twittering birds which makes our environment serene and close to the mother nature.

POPULATION; In 2005, the nation conducted a population survey of entire country ( Public Housing and Census of Bhutan). The survey concluded that Bhutan had a total population of little more than 600,000 people, however, recently some of the statistics show that the population has gone up to little more than 700,000 as of July 2011 (est.) As of 2011 July, Bhutan has 3,37,404 male with 3,71,023 female (estimation), Wikipedia. The annual population growth rate of Bhutan as of July 2011 is estimated at 1.201% against the life expectancy rate of 67.3 years (Male: 66.46 years, Female: 68.19 years -2011 est.).Youth population in Bhutan takes 65.3% of the total population (15 to 64 years).Children of (0 to 14 years) comprises only 28.9% whereas the remaining 5.7% is comprised of senior citizens(65 years and above). The estimated sex ratio in Bhutan is interestingly 1.1 for men to women. As Bhutan is steadily developing, urbanization has picked up its pace. The capital city (Thimphu) is the fastest growing town followed by Phuntsholing (gateway to Bhutan) and few others. As the remote villages are in very far flung areas, rural urban migration rate is on rise. Unemployment, lack of basic facilities, hardships due to difficult terrain of agriculture fields,traditional method of agriculture practices are some of the contributing factors for the migration. The population density of the country has been on rise since the past three years. According to the World bank release ,the population density in 2008 was 18.27.By 2009 the World bank recorded 18.59 and subsequently in 2010 it has reached to 18.91.

ECONOMY
Bhutans economy is one of smallest and least developed in the world. Agriculture and forestry is the main source of revenue for more than 60% of its population. Bhutan's economy is strongly connected with India's through trade links and dependence on financial assistance. Over the recent years, there has been an improvement in the living standard of the people. The countrys better economy brought schools and Basic Health Units in remote villages and many far flung villages are also electrified and connected with farm roads. Bhutans economy is largely based on agriculture, forestry and hydropower. Traditionally, the agrarian Bhutanese society practice subsistence farming and animal husbandry. Bhutanese farmers are gradually taking up commercial agriculture production. Farmers also earn income through sale of handicrafts such as woven materials, wood craft, bamboo and cane craft, paintings etc. The Bhutanese diet is mainly from food crops like maize, rice, buckwheat, barley and wheat. Government generates revenue for cash crops like apples, oranges, ginger and cardamom.
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Bhutan made a significant progress in tourism industry after opening itself to the outside world and tourism in 1975. At present, tourism industry is one of the major contributors to the countrys revenue. Bhutan is blessed with bountiful water bodies and due to their potential to generate hydro power and earn big revenue; they are termed as White Gold. Hydro-power remains as the biggest revenue generator in Bhutan. The country has the capacity to generate about 30,000 MW of electricity. Chhukha hydropower plant generates 336 MW. The biggest hydropower plant so far is in Tala and it generates about 1020 MW. The major share of power generated is exported to India. Bhutan has embarked on more hydropower projects. In years to come, Bhutan is yet to sack in more revenues from few more new hydro power projects coming up. We have 4 more mega hydro power projects under construction. Over 14 percent of GDP is contributed by the industrial sector. The industrial products include Calcium carbide, Ferro silicon, cement, processed food, and wood based industries. The growth of this sector is expected in future after establishment of more energy intensive industries. Bhutans GDP (PPP) according to the 2009 estimates is $4.34 billion and occupies the 162nd place in the global GDP (PPP) list. The countrys GDP grew by 5% in 2009, with a per-capita income (PPP) of $6,200. The agriculture sector contributes 22.3% to the countrys GDP, while the industry sector contributes 37.9% and the services sector contributes 39.8% to the GDP. According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Bhutanese economy has grown substantially in the past decade and its future prospects are bright. The IMF report says that the 9th five-year plan (2002-2007) achieved success in reducing poverty, increasing the national income, improving social conditions, among others, in a smoothly conducted political transition. During the ninth plan, the GDP growth averaged 9.5% due to the boost in hydroelectric-based projects. The rate of inflation was at about 5% due to the rise in food and fuel prices. The inflation rate in Bhutan has been on rise since 2009, however, according to some data released ,the inflation rate for 2011 was recorded at 6.5%. It is 1.4% lesser than 2009. As the youth population is very high in Bhutan, the unemployment rate has also been on rise, it has alarmingly reached at 4 % by 2009 but it has come down o 3.1% in 2011.It is not that there arent enough jobs for youth, it is because the youth doesnt want to take up blue collar jobs. According to some sources, 50% to 60% of the workers in the hydropower projects, highway constructions and other developmental areas are all Indian labors. The unemployment rate is very high, because the youth coming out of the schools are not well equipped or skilled to take on the jobs readily available in the market, they all come out as young, fresh and raw graduates with no work experience in any filed. We still have lots of expatriates, volunteers and foreign consultant workers working in most of the decision making offices. Currency The Bhutanese currency is Ngultrum, one hundred Chetrum makes one Ngultrum. One Ngultrum is equal to an Indian rupee. The artistically engraved Bhutanese coin comes in one Ngultrum denomination. Paper notes are commonly used although people also use coins, which is not common. At present, the currency exchange rate for one US$ is 48 Ngultrum. The rates fluctuates often but can be sought from online or newspapers.

Literacy Rate:
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The overall literacy rate of Bhutan is 59.5% which makes 41.5% still illiterate. The literate rate for women in Bhutan is 39% to that of 61% of men literate.(This is as per 2005,PHCB,survey).Though not confirmed, it is believed that by now Bhutan would already have 70% of its population literate. The government has been putting in lots of efforts in strengthening and establishing hundreds of NFE centers (Non Formal Education) across the country to enable the adults to learn reading and writing. This program has also enabled many of the school dropouts to continue their education. As per the Adult Literacy Policy, Bhutan has targeted 70% literacy rate by 2013.. Amongst the twenty Dzongkhags (District), Gasa District has the highest illiterate rate (53.20%) against the capital state with highest literate population(73.3%).Samtse Dzongkhag in the South has the highest literate rate of both male and female(20.4% and 29.8% respectively).

Though Bhutan is a small country, it is linguistically rich in dialects. Unofficially, there are little more than 20 different dialects spoken in the country. Dzongkha is the national language of Bhutan, so it becomes the only officially recognized language. English is also spoken widely and is the medium of instruction in the schools and colleges.. Buddhism (Vajrayana,tantric Buddhism) is the centre of all religions in Bhutan, more than 90% of the people are Buddhist and rest of the 10 % is divided into Christianity and Hinduism. (est).

Below is a table of Bhutan vital statistics since 1995 published by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs.[6] Death per Total Infant Mortality Rate Live birth per Crude Birth Crude Death Year Fertility For every 1000 Rate Rate rate 1000 births. 16 000 15 000 5 000 5 000 29.2 25.2 9.9 7.9 4.13 3.30 69.7 52.8

Years

1995-2000 2000-2005

2005-2010

15 000

5 000

21.5

7.2

2.61

44.4

EDUCATION

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Until the twentieth century the only schools that existed in Bhutan were the monasteries set up by the Drukpa subsect of Kargyupa sect of Mahayana Buddhism. The growing influence of the British in the late nineteenth century influenced Ugyen Wangchuk,the first king of Bhutan (1907-1926) toward Western style education, and he set up English-medium private schools for the elite in Ha, Bumthang, and Thimphu (the national capital). In the 1950s, Jigme Dorji Wangchuk began government-supported primary schools for common people. In 1960, there were 29 public and 30 private schools that enrolled nearly 2,500 children. Secondary level schooling was available only in neighboring India. Systematic efforts toward developing the education sector began in 1961, with the introduction of the First Development Plan (1961-1966) that provided for free and universal primary education. By 1998, the government had established 400 schools, of which 150 were primary community schools in remote areas, 188 regular primary schools, 44 junior high schools, and 18 high schools. Today, in the first decade of the 21st century, Bhutan has 547 schools, of which 362 are primary schools,90 Lower Secondary schools,52 Middle Secondary Schools and 43 Higher Secondary Schools. SUMMARY OF SCHOOLS,INSTITUTES AND CENTRES. Government Private A EARLY CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT 1 Day Care Centres B SCHOOL EDUCATION 1 Community Primary Schools 2 Primary Schools 3 Lower Secondary Schools 4 Middle Secondary Schools 5 Higher Secondary Schools 7 547 Total B Sub C Extended Classroom D Special Institutes* E Tertiary Institutes under RUB F Vocational Institutes Total (Schools and Institutes) (A+B+D+E+F) 608 53 661 G Monastic Education (Lobdra, Shredra,etc) H Non-Formal Centres TOTAL 1,529 52 1,582 25 266 85 88 51 30 nv 520 62 8 10 8 1 10 2 1 13
27

Total 25 267 95 90 52 43
547

62 8 11 8

207 714 -

207 714

Source: Annual Education Statistics, Ministry of Education, Bhutan.2010. The schooling begins with primary school (at age six) for five years of primary school, two years of Lower Secondary (grades seven through eight), and two years of middle secondary school (grades
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nine through ten) and then finally two years of higher Secondary school(grades eleven through Twelve). Bhutan Council for School Examination and Assessment conducts nationwide examinations at the end of the 3rd, 6th, 8th 10th and 12th grades. Instruction is in English and the national language, Dzongkha.

a. Educational Situation
1. Coverage of School Age Population

Level
Pre-Primary Primary Lower Secondary Middle Secondary Higher Secondary Tertiary Total

Total Enrolment
31,472 24,219 49,164 37,209 28,341 23,145 207,099

School Age Population

6-12years 6-12 years 13 to 14 years 15 to 16years 17 to 18years 18 and above

Gross Enrolment Rate

16.6% 21.8% 28.9% 21.8% 16.6% NA

Percentage in Private Schools

0.34% 6.972% 1.577% 1.098% 24.36% 16.73%

Source: Annual Education Statistics, Ministry of Education, Bhutan.2010 2. Rate of Growth of Enrolment During Past Year Period

Level of Education
Pre-Primary Primary Secondary (Grades VII-X) Higher Secondary (XI-XII) Tertiary

Average Annual Rate of Growth

2.6% 4% 14.4% 22% NA.

Source: Annual Education Statistics, Ministry of Education, Bhutan.2010

3. Teacher Deployment Situation

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Level of Education Pre-Primary Primary High/Secondary Tertiary TOTAL

Number of Teachers 1384 1021 4662 1882 8949

% of Qualified Teachers

Pupil/ Teacher Ratio

Source: Annual Education Statistics, Ministry of Education, Bhutan.2010.

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Pupil Teacher ratio across the school level.

Range 1-20 CPS 155 PS 37 LSS 13 MSS 10 HSS 19 TOTAL 234

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20-30 30-40 40-50 50-60 60-70

73 38 5 3 2

39 12 2 0 0

61 16 2 0 0

30 8 0 0 0

20 2 0 0 0

223 76 9 3 2

Source: Annual Education Statistics, Ministry of Education, Bhutan.2010. 4. Internal Efficiency in Primary Education (2010 Year Period) Grades Rate Year 20092010 Promotion 20102011 20092010 Repetition Rate 20102011 20092010 Dropout Rate 20102011 100 % 100 % 100% 100% 100 % 100% 100% 100% 100% 1.18 % 1.18 % 0.64% 3.7% 2.97 % 1.33% 5.40% 0.73% -2.89 6.6 % 6.5% 5.8% 8.9% 5.8% 4.4% 6.1% 3.9% 5.7% 1 92.2 % 2 92.3 % 3 4 5 6 94.3% 7 88.5% 8 95.4% 9 97.2% 93.5% 87.3% 91.2 %

Source: Annual Education Statistics, Ministry of Education, Bhutan.2010

5. Financing of Education About six model schools across the country are today giving special education to students with learning difficulties. With basic education, from pre-primary until class X given free, the director said that repetition also costs the government more.

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The cost of one primary school day student in a year is about Nu 13,000; while it is Nu 23,000 for a border student in a primary school. At the lower secondary schools, the cost goes up more than Nu 15,000 for a day-scholar and almost Nu 30,000 for a boarder. The cost for a middle secondary day student is about Nu 50,000; while for a boarder the cost goes up to almost Nu 75,000.For each high school day student, the government spends about Nu 72,000 and Nu 92,000 for boarders. The highest is spent on students from national institute of disabled in Khaling, Trashigang, with the government spending more than Nu 166,000 a student.

1. Total Public expenditure on education as a percentage of government expenditure .16.71% (2010-2011).. Source:www.Ministry of Finance.Bhutan. 2. Total Public expenditure on education as a percentage of GDP/GNP 7.3% (2010-2011). Source: www.Ministry of Finance.Bhutan.

6. Public Current Expenditure on Education as a Percentage of Total Public Expenditure % (2010-2011)

7. Current Expenditure Per Pupil as a Percentage of GDP or GNP

(2009)

Level of Education Primary High/ Secondary Tertairy

Expenditure Per Pupil

7.17% 31.51% 150.38(2008)

The structure of Ministry of Education. Royal Government of Bhutan.

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Teacher Training:
With only two National colleges for teacher training (Paro College of Education and Samtse College of Education) in the country, it is very difficult for the Ministry of Education to meet the teacher requirement. Approximately, Bhutan in is dire need of another 1000 teachers. The teacher shortage is more severe in the remote schools most of the remote schools are run by one or two teachers taking the grades through pre primary to VI. Bhutan commitment of Education For All and Universal Education by 2013 has forced the government to open more schools and extended classrooms even in the most difficult areas. To curb down the teacher shortage, ministry of Education has initiated two projects; Light Druk Yul Project and Community Based Teachers. The Light Druk Yul Project involve the young and fresh university graduates including the Buddhist university graduates to take on teaching on Contract basis, it also reinstates the senior and retired able teachers to join on contract basis. The Light Druk Yul beneficiaries can extend their contract after a completion of two years contract period. Likewise the Community Based Teachers project was targeted at inviting interested in service candidate from other departments to take on teaching as a service to their home community, this did not work well for the in service and we did not receive a single volunteer. Later this same project was diverted toward the unemployed pr university graduates to take teaching in their home community. This helped few hundreds of unemployed youth to return to their villages and render the services on contract basis; however the quality of education has been undermined by both the projects. The two projects came in as a quick fix for most of the schools with dire teacher need, but these young fresh graduates expertise in teaching, dealing with children and their content knowledge on curriculum are always questionable. Bhutanese teachers are always blamed for a unconfirmed, self directed prophecy of dwindling education quality. The teachers morale has been highly affected when this dwindling quality education was blamed on the teachers through mass media. Though the Education ministry has a standing policy of moving the teachers on transfer after having completed a five years tenure in one school, it seems impractical and sometimes a challenging policy for the ministry itself. Our ministry is stressed for not being able to mobilize the teachers as per the policy, it is proven very difficult for the urban teachers to be moved to the remote schools, hence, the tenure of teachers serving in the remote schools are extended as there are no enough relievers. It is also foreseen that, if many teachers are brought in the urban, there will be teacher excess explosion. The new graduates from the two colleges are only filling in the already existing shortage gap.

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To motivate the remote teachers and also to encourage the fresh teacher graduates to go to the remotes, the ministry has instituted a system of giving the first priority of trainings, workshop and studies firstly to the teachers serving in the remote, they are given a score of 5 points. The Royal Government of Bhutan also understanding the difficulties and hardships, our teachers are paid extra allowances called Difficulty allowances. The allowance ranges from Nu.800 to nu.2000 per teacher.

The two colleges works in close line with most of the renowned universities across the globe to maintain the standard of teacher training at par to the international level. The training curriculum and training strategies catered by the two colleges are at par to the latest trend and innovations of education. The two colleges have well designed curriculum separately for pre-service and in-service teachers Working as a teacher in Bhutan is more fun and worth teaching.

Curriculum Development:
Curriculum in Bhutanese schools is centrally designed. Based on the research and feed backs from the fields, the curriculum specialists along with teacher expert from the field design the curriculum. Though the curriculum is centrally designed, when it comes to the implementation of curriculum, teachers are fully oriented through workshops. Teachers have the liberty of changing the activities to best suit their school need, however the standard and the objectives of the activity should remain the same. Bhutanese school curriculum has kept on changing, it began with Indian based curriculum until late 1900s, and then the New Approach to Primary Education swapped in lots of changes and new aspects. Later in 2006, the Canadian based curriculum is adopted. School textbooks and reading materials have been on constant change, which sometimes makes both the children and teachers confused. Recently, subjects like English, Mathematics, Social studies, Science and Dzongkha have seen total change. Information technology subject has become an integral part of school education where as Arts, music and other vocational subjects are piloted in some of the schools.

Textbooks and School Supplies:

With the governments policy of decentralization, purchase of school stationeries and other resources are done by the concerned District education officers following the financial norms of the government. However, the supply of textbooks is still done by the ministry. The schools submit our requisition to the headquarters, based on the collection of the requisitions from all the schools; the ministry floats the supply tenders to the book entrepreneurs. The
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concerned entrepreneurs are responsible for the safe and timely delivery of the textbooks to the schools. As the education for Bhutanese children are free till grade X, the government invests huge amount of money in supply of textbooks and stationeries. On the other hand, as many schools are located at far away walking distances, it makes the delivery more expensive and time consuming. Through the assistance of the UN agencies and other Volunteers abroad, every school has a mini library, every year the government allots certain amount for every school to purchase library. A newly established culture of annual Book Fair enables the schools to buy their own library books as per the need of the school.

Special Education programs for disadvantage d and poor.

With the institution of Inclusive Education Policy and also with the Bhutans commitment for Education for All, every Bhutanese child enjoys the equal and same Right to education despite their disadvantages. The practice of racism, stereotyping and prejudices are almost not present in our country. The Royal government of Bhutan has established the following special institutions for disabled children. Institution National Institute for Disabled (Vision) A school for hearing disabled Draktsho Vocational Club for Handicapped Pathtshala Sanskrit Institution Monastic Schools Non Formal Education Centers. Location Khaling,Tashigang,East Bhutan. Drugyel ,Paro. West Bhutan. Thimphu and Kanglung( East Bhutan) Samtse Across the country. Across the country.

Children with special needs are given special attention by the government and the school. Teachers working in these institutions are well trained by the foreign specialists. Today we do have few disabled graduates holding different position in the civil servant. Children belonging to marginalized background, single parents or broken families are all enrolled in the school under the kind gesture of His Majesty the Kings welfare project (KIDU).His majesty the king sponsors these children for their schooling, each child gets certain amount which covers all the school expenses for a year. Recently, His majesty also started the winter camps for these beneficiaries. His majesty ensures that this children complete class X with sound knowledge and skills. Special attention is given to this group of
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children because these children are basically the poor performers in the school. Few of the graduates under His Majestys welfare project are pursuing their higher education abroad. We also have numerous welfare NGOs Non Governmental Organization) catering to disadvantaged and poor children as well as the parents.

Education for All Programs

Providing education for all is a primary goal for the Ministry of Education, Bhutan. The ministry has been working very hard to reach the goal, it has taken lots of initiatives both at central and state levels. Given the difficult geographical location of many villages in our country, it is very difficult, in fact dangerous to send children to the schools at far flung distances. Children having to walk through deep forests, crossing difficult rivers, climbing steep mountains and walking for hours made the children difficult to attend the school, hence parents are reluctant. But, the government has come up with initiatives of establishing Extended Classrooms in far flung villages. Extended classroom will be run by a single or two teachers to teach the children of the village until they reach class VI. On completion of class VI then the children will be sent to nearby boarding schools to pursue their higher education. Today most of the Primary schools are all located in the most remote and difficult villages of the country. As per the Annual Education Statistic Reports 2010,MoE Bhutan, it says the target of Gross Primary Enrollment has already reached 100% by 2010..

Inspection and supervision services for quality improvement.

EMSSD (Education Monitoring Support and Services Division) is a unit under the Department of School Education which is responsible for immediate monitoring and support services. This unit visits the schools on regular basis to monitor and assess the performances of students, teachers and school at large. Their monitoring is wide spread across, leadership and management practices, instructional roles, students welfare schemes, school campus etc. Based on their findings, the office is responsible to render necessary support immediately, if not they recommend the DSE to conduct training programs based on the school need. Recently the unit has instituted a performance monitoring system called (Performance management System), this system obliges the District Education Officers to visit the schools to do the assessment based on the parameters developed by the unit. The total score of every school is accumulated at the headquarters and then the entire schools across the country are ranked. The top ten schools are rewarded with certificates and other professional

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motivations, whereas the bottom ten schools get to attend lots of workshops and trainings to improve their performance. The District Education office is the immediate supervisor for any kind of activity happening in the schools under its jurisdiction. The office is responsible for rendering support services, maintain quality and intervene if the schools are not doing good. Time to time, the officers from the ministry other than EMSSD also visit the schools for the same purpose.

Examination System
The school education in Bhutan is all exam oriented, there is an open debate going on in the education ministry to do away with exam systems for primary schooling. It is believed that most of our children are learning only for the sake of examination. Today even to find a job, ones academic performance is accounted first. Bhutans School Examination for higher schools was affiliated to Delhi Board in India. Until recent years, question papers for the higher grades like Class X and XII were all from India. Now with the establishment of BCSEA(Bhutan Council for School Examination and Assessemnt), we have been able to de link ourselves from Delhi Board. Bhutan Council for School Examination and Assessment conducts nationwide examinations at the end of the 3rd, 6th, 8th 10th and 12th grades. Instruction is in English and the national language, Dzongkha.

New Reform
Educating for GNH (Gross National Happiness) is the latest reform in the history of countrys education. Gross National Happiness is a peoples welfare directed developing policy for our government, It was propagated by our Fourth king, His Majesty Jigme Singye Wangchuk. For us, peoples happiness is more important than the Gross Domestic product, after all, Gross Domestic products ultimate aim is to bring happiness. But in the way of increasing the GDP, our government and people become more materialistic and consumerist. Our philosophy based on Four pillars,( Sustainable Socio-economic Development, Preservation of Culture, Nature Conservation and Good Governance). The ministry of Education has reframed its vision and mission statements to fulfill this philosophy. All the school principals across the country were trained on how to integrate this GNH values without compromising the subject knowledge. GNH value talks a lot about interdependence and being mindful.
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Schools have started mind training sessions for the school children to teach them mindfulness, increase concentration and develop compassion. Schools have started working more creatively, any activity conducted in the school are all based on the four pillars of the GNH philosophy. School children enjoy a variety of activity and other learning projects based on the philosophy of happiness, childrens happiness in the schools are given top priority, amounts of money is invested in developing school facilities which were forgotten for so many years. Through the GNH values integration, our children have become more conscious, empathetic and culturally proud. The ministry of education has laid own some qualities of GNH graduates and schools are striving to achieve the target of producing GNH graduates. Values like being contended, avoiding Junk diet, helping community, managing wastes, school greening and preservation of culture are always highlighted through textbook teachings. The idea of integrating GNH in the schools is to make the children understand that their presence in this world is to bring common happiness, the community should be happy because of the school and vice versa. GNH practices are in full swing in all the schools and we are positive that this will bring true happiness and enhance peace in our country and the world at large.

Prepared by Tashi Dendup Principal Langmadung CPS, Trashiyangtse Bhutan IDEPA XVIII. NUEPA. New Delhi. India. 2012.

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GEOGRAPHY FACTS AND FIGURES Land area Forest area Altitude Population Ethnicity Language & dialects 47.000 km2 18.147 square miles 72.5 % between 240 and 7.541metres above sea level 6 to 7 million (approximately) 50% Bhote, 35% ethnic Nepalese, 15% indigenous/migrant tribes official language Dzongkha, English widely spoken, also 19 other languages

Religion Vajrayana stream of Mahayana Buddhism (Tantric Buddhism) 75%, Indian & Nepalese versions of Hinduism 25% Currency Capital Government Royalty Prime Minister National Tree National Bird National Flower National Sport National Animal Ngultrum (equal to Indian Rupee) Thimphu constitutional democratic monarchy King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuk Lyonpo Jigme Thinley Cypress Raven Blue Poppy Archery Takin
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Could the increased learning demand from the expanded curriculum and the need to change schools after completing primary school be contributing to very high number of students repeating and leaving school in grades four and seven? This has been raised in the annual education statistics (AES), 2010, which is prepared based on the data collected from schools and institutes in the beginning of the 2010 academic session, through the annual school census forms. Repetition rate in grade four is nine percent, which means of the 16,363 students in class IV this year, 1,363 are repeaters. In class VII, 782 students of some 13,000 are repeaters, about six percent. Around 700 class VII students and 600 from class IV also dropped school between 2009 and 2010. While a proper study is yet to be done to understand the rate of drop outs and repetition in these grades, educationists said it could also be because of the many underage and overage children enrolled in primary schools. Almost 11 percent of children, who are five years and below and who should be in early childhood development centres are enrolled in grade one, while about 24 percent of primary school students started school as late as 12 years. The main reason for low promotion rate in grade IV may include those underage and overage children and who are likely to repeat, the report said. Another factor contributing to increased repetition and drop out rates, according to the report could be from changing schools to continue their education, sometimes far from home as borders. Repetition and drop out rates are among the three efficiency indicators of an education system, the report said. The lower the repetition and dropout rates, and the higher the number of promoters and the survival rate, the better the system is said to be doing. While time spent by pupils repeating grade is not necessarily wasted, it is undeniable that the efforts to reduce rates of repetition and drop outs are crucial parts of any universal primary education strategy, the report said. By 2013, the ministry has committed to bring down the repetition rate to 4.5 percent from about six percent today.

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Bringing down the repetition rate means supporting weaker students by identifying their learning problems, director general of the school education department, Tshewang Tandin said. Thats because its those students with learning difficulties who usually end up repeating. The director said that every child should be able to learn irrespective of their learning abilities. We arent saying that exams should be made easy, but its about detecting problems and supporting them by giving a separate class, he said.

Read more: Bhutan - Education, Percent, Schools, and Primary - StateUniversity.com http://education.stateuniversity.com/pages/162/Bhutan.html#ixzz1khTO6hgZ

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