The Dzongkha curriculum for students is undergoing a reform. The subject is not only being made more interesting but also challenging. And this, according to the Education Ministry, is to make the subject attract more students while also demanding more attention from them.
The new curriculum will be implemented for Classes 9 till 12 from this year.
For the other classes, the ministry is still working to complete the new Dzongkha curriculum.
According to the ministry’s School Curriculum Division, several studies and stakeholders have been involved to make the changes.
‘‘We have received many feedback on the need to revise the subject and include useful content. Like-wise there are many opinions that we need to constitute exercises that will benefit students. On top of that, we have collected views from communities, teachers, and senior officials from the education sector,” said Dorji, Curriculum Developer.
Some of the changes include introducing enhanced grammar subjects, revising content and constituting exercises to enhance reading, writing and speaking skills needed for the 21st century.
He added most of the students do not have a genuine interest in learning the Dzongkha subject. He said children revise or study the subject only when the exams are near since they find Dzongkha either too easy or too difficult.
‘‘If it was another subject, they start practising early on as it is challenging. In terms of Dzongkha, only when the exam is coming they will start studying a day or two before since it is easy. So unless it is made a bit difficult, children don’t take much interest in learning it. That is why we are revising the Dzongkha curriculum and making it a bit more challenging than before.’’
Besides making more students interested in the Dzongkha subject, he added another objective is to make the subject content useful to the student’s everyday life.
Karma Wangdi
Edited by Yeshi Gyaltshen
