To improve the quality of education in the country, Members of Parliament (MP) of the National Council today, recommended approving and passing the Draft National Education Policy 2019 as soon as possible.
Continuing the deliberations on the five recommendations made by the Good Governance Committee of the National Council, the Haa Dzongkhag MP recommended passing the Draft National Education Policy 2019 as early as possible.
“For the betterment of everyone in the future and to improve the quality of education in the country, I would suggest the government to look into every option to pass the Draft National Education Policy 2019 as soon as possible. Along with it, it will be better, if we can also come up with the Education Bill for deliberations in the parliament,” proposed Ugyen Namgay, the Haa MP.
Likewise, members also shared their concerns related to the government’s decision to bring down the admission age for Pre-Primary students from six to five years starting this academic session.
“Last year, many students were sent back to their homes in the mid-year as they were not allowed to be enrolled if they have not attained the admission age of 6 years. But this time, the government has lowered the admission age from 6 to 5 years without making any changes to the syllabus. Will the young children be able to bear the burden put upon by us?” asked Tempa Dorji, the Lhuentse MP.
“Bhutan being a developing country, we cannot compete with other countries in terms of nutritious food and 
growth of body associated with it. When we compare our five-year-old babies to children of much-developed countries, our children are small in size and are not as smart as they are. I am equally concerned with the decision to bring down the admission age to 5 years,” added Tashi Samdrup, the Trongsa MP.
Further, the members of the house also recommended to regularize all contract employees under the ministry of education, develop skills and knowledge of private teachers by including them in all training attended by the government teachers, making Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCD) centres available in remote areas, review the education financial modality and revising the ECCD syllabus. The House will adopt the recommendations on Friday.
Passang Dorji
