On the Road to Education

Every evening, I find my neighbor waiting outside the apartment for her two children from their evening tuition. And my neighbor has been doing that as long as I can remember. As a young parent myself I can understand how concerned she is of her children. It is jungle out there. Any rushing cars can make our children no more. Doing well and performing exceptionally beyond what is expected is becoming a trend in Bhutan today. Time was different when we were students.

By the way tuition is illegal in Bhutan. That’s the way it is here. Many things are illegal and yet we see them everywhere. Only this afternoon, we passively smoked in a restaurant – that lady, I think she was unaware of the fact that one is prohibited of smoking in a public place. She did it just before our eyes and so proudly too.

Anyway, you see tuition is illegal in Bhutan. And I am really encouraged by the reason our authorities give to defend their decision on the prohibition of tuitions in the country. They think that if tuition centers are legalized in the country then it would create differences between the students from the rich and the poor and urban and rural family backgrounds. Isn’t that heartening? We should not have differential treatments in an equitable society - no doubt we are a happy country! How nice of the authorities to recognize this!

But our experience tells us that there are already differences between the rich and the poor students – for the same reason we have phrases like ‘haves’ and ‘have not’s’. We can never compare a remote school with a school in urban centers, you see. And for the same reason, differences already exist. Even if tuitions are illegal, rich parents can still afford to send their children to private homes for regular tuitions or better still they can invite private tutors in their houses. Isn’t that a difference?

Since it is the wish of every parent to make their children learn their lessons inside out, it is only fitting that we allow private tuition centers to come in. Authorities should monitor such centers and tutors with proper qualification and training should run them. But no schoolteachers if they are still in the teaching profession should be allowed. As result there won’t be conflict of interest. Teachers do not delve deeper into a topic so that they would have more students gathering in their houses in the evening. I don’t know how true it is, but I am sure most our teachers’ conscience would be clear with this accusation.

Knowing that difference between the rural and the urban, the rich and the poor, exists, it is high time that we do something about this bugging issue of tuitions. We should come up with uniform set of guidelines, rules and regulations and allow tuition centers to operate.

When they are ready

The Ministry of Education discovered 890 'underage' children admitted in schools across the country in 2019. Thus, the ministry in May 2019 issued a notification revoking the admission for these children. Majority were in urban centres. Desperate, parents and the affected schools requested the government to intervene. They also requested the government to consider lowering the enrolment age to five years. Currently, in Bhutan a child can legally go to school only when s(he) is six years old. And that policy was strictly followed a few years ago to the extent that some schools refused to admit children even if they were short of a few weeks. So, parents, mostly in urban areas, resorted to faking their children's ages. Many parents were guilty of adding years onto their children's actual ages. However, most parents, we are told, managed to correct their 'mistakes' later. Faking a child's age was rampant...

The Vanishing Currency of a Bhutanese Village

Growing up in rural Bhutan, the richest people in the village often had very little cash. They were known as chukpo , 'the ones with cattle'. And no one asked how much money a person had in the bank. No one or only a countable few had bank accounts, anyway. Wealth was measured in fields, cattle, grains, and the ability to carry a family through the seasons. Cash existed, but it played only a small role. Most exchanges happened through barter. Rice for chillies, soya beans for Sichuan peppers, cheese for eggs. I still remember that a ball of homemade cheese was worth two fresh eggs. Nobody needed a calculator because people simply knew. The most remarkable part of the system was the exchange of labour. During sowing and planting seasons, families needed extra hands, yet labour was rarely paid in cash. If I spent three days helping on your farm, you spent three days helping on mine in return. No contract was needed to be signed. No money changed hands. Wealthier households so...

Community of Bhutanese Bloggers Conceived

And finally it happened. I must say that it was by far the most attended Bloggers Meet. In the past we had bloggers agree to attend and cancel at the very last minute. But on June 24, 2015 – almost 100% of bloggers, who confirmed came. I would like to thank everyone for keeping his/her words, especially those who had to come all the way from Wangdue or Paro. Thank you! 35 Bhutanese bloggers met in Thimphu. We were honored to have the presence of senior bloggers like Aue Yeshi Dorji and Dasho Sangay Khandu. The meeting assumed more significance because of their presence. Equally, we were happy to have many young bloggers in whom we see so much enthusiasm and potential. On top of many things that transpired during the Meet, one of the most significant outcomes was the unanimous decision reached to form a formal group of bloggers, a platform aimed at encouraging and inspiring more bloggers around the country. The members decided that we will call it Community of Bhutanese Blogger...

Ngawang Phuntsho

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