The Great Fourth: Last I Saw in-person was in 2011

As serious as in his looks, he is serious in action. As handsome as in his appearance, he is serious in his personality.

As a boy I grew up closely watching at the beautiful kupar of our king Jigme Singye Wangchuck my parents had hung up just above the first door of my parental house. Before I knew anything about the world, my parents introduced me to our king. Before I knew where he lives and what he does, I knew him as our king, King (Raja) of Bhutan. 

His leadership have often caught the worldly attention. I started loving our king from a very young age. There is nothing as beautiful as giving a long staring looks at the kupar of our king, the Great Fourth. Before I'd the idea of the world, I was already very close to our king.  

The photo frame my parents have always occupies a special place in our home and in our heart. It is still in the same place and has equally impacted other siblings like me. We worship him for his leadership and great vision for the country. Since then I always admire him. Indeed, he is my "role model". 

Back to my primary school, I used to know many things about the beloved Fourth King, in fact more than my little classmates. I could easily distinguish our king. We were introduced to our king in a very same manner of what my parents used to share with us, but more formally. By the time I was in junior school, I knew so many developments –where he lives? What does he do? His office. The changes he has brought under his dynamic leadership and how concerns he was especially for the younger generation. 

However, going through these powerful statements made by His Majesty at his earlier age is something extraordinary. 

I've jotted down a few random statements made by Jonathan Gregson in his book called "Kingdoms Beyond the Clouds", lively interviews with beloved Fourth Druk Gyalpo. 

"He has always been reluctant to take on large foreign loans. Standing on our own feet and self-reliance are central to his philosophy". 

"I don't believe monarchy is the best system of government. If there's a very good and competent king, then he can do much good; if not, then he can do a lot of harm. I try to impress upon them that you cannot depend just on one individual and that the future of bhutan can only be secure if it is in the hands of the Bhutanese people". 

"The essence of democracy is very, very good. Political parties decisions are based not on what's best for the country but what's best for winning votes". 

"He was pursuing a policy of economic self-reliance, privatizing enterprises set up with foreign aid so that they pay their own way and don’t become a drain on public finances". 

"Hydroelectricity –just as the Middle East has oil". But his majesty has warned in 1980's about the shortage of water to run the turbine and potential destruction to mother nature. He always has great concern for forest coverage. 

The future of the country lies in the hands of the young generation is never far from the truth. 

Ananymous "LETTER"

                                                                                Classic calligraphy

The art of letter writing is fast fading away globally. We hardly see people writing letters these days. This could be due to new and easy platforms that new technology provides the users to communicate which are not only fast but also safe and efficient. Nonetheless, people are overly becoming lazy and time conscious.

As the longest academic year comes to an end, I got this letter from one of my students expressing immense gratitude of thankfulness for helping shape their dreams.

It was so sweet to hear such good feelings when many turn down for hatred and prejudice. The small piece was beautifully crafted in thoughts and feelings. It was a short yet very powerful and touching. 

It sounds like the feeling was so honest and genuine. The choice of every single word made was so impressive at such a young age. I can see your future already beautiful. You're already a leader. I can see you more than a "politician". I hope your dream comes true. 

May you become someone your parents can trust? May you serve our country, king and people with highest integrity and loyalty?

Stay blessed as always!

"Less is More" Curriculum

I took part in EduTALK Bhutan series 02.1 as one of the panelists to give some honest experiences, expectations and exhortations of our current education system from teachers angle. I did 10 minutes online presentation to panelists of educationists and other enthusiastic viewers. However, it wasn't easy to face the onlooker's eyes and brain and camera. I was nervous and puzzled. Things didn't shaped as expected. It was my first experience in such a forum although I had attended several online talks in the first series of EduTALK. Nevertheless, listening and watching others is so easy and sweet. 

1# Syllabus

This is where I picked up my presentation. I chanced to share my own experiences of how tiring and difficult it is to cover around 1200-1500 pages of prescribed syllabus. This is too much for 180 instructional days. Syllabus is one thing and the lack of required equipment is another, which is very much burdensome to both teachers and students, which hampers quality learning. With such a level of content and textbook driven syllabus, we keep shooting our arrows whether it hits the target or not. I was worried only to cover the syllabus and nothing more. Since the exam mark is a lifeline for students and way to fix teachers ability to deliver the content. Therefore, bulky contents with complicated concepts and theories not only stress our young learners but also bored them overly.  

a# Lecturing

To cover up the syllabus, lecturing method is one of the best delivery tools administered by all the teachers. 99 percent of our teachers are used to lecturing and another 99 percent of our learners are used to listening lectures (passive listener). For centuries almost nothing has changed in our delivery style and in our curriculum. Listening to 4-5 hours lectures one after another is too much and tiring task our kids. I feel pity especially for some mammoth learners. But, there is not much space to adjust in current system of education. As a result of this intended curriculum, we not only kill their learning right at the buds but also bar their passion to learn. Therefore, technology driven learning is what I have felt we can put forward.

b# How do they learn? 

Thus, far we have failed in our mission to understand how our kids learn best in the classroom. What engage them? What interests them? Are never considered as part of their learning and curriculum. Difference in their learning was never considered, because we don't have a separate curriculum to suit their learning interest. In a class of 30 students, half of them would be slow learners or even less. However, teachers are asked to engage them with some remedial classes or extra time, but there is no space for teachers to engage them because of an exhausting day's lesson. At the end of the class, they have many obligations to meet. Most of the time slow learners are never taken into consideration, and for everyone they are failures and nothing more.  

c# Lack of autonomy 

Children don’t like school because in school they are not free. They are under pressure all the time and everywhere. Teachers are overly authoritative, rigid management and rude staff are hard to face on a daily basis. This is not good for a learning environment for young learners. They need intensive care but not such authority. Everything is tightly controlled by the system that makes our young kids vulnerable. 

 d# No room for passion 

Do our education system address on more human aspects like what am I good at? What do I want to do? Where shall I practice? 

Passion is what we have never thought yet to put in our school. We need a change. We need a more vibrant curriculum that gives learners space to practice and learn their passion when they are at the right age and learning mood. The base of everything has to begin from school.