Parents and students rejoice as the education ministry announces that Class 12 and 10 students who did not pass the mandatory subjects, English and Dzongkha, will now be allowed to re-sit these exams. So far, failing either of these two subjects would prevent a student from graduating. However, the ministry has yet to finalise the detailed criteria and procedures for this arrangement.
This initiative, according to the ministry, is considering the grievances expressed by parents over the years.
A few parents BBS talked to said that mandatory subjects have often been a hurdle for their child who are good in major subjects of their respective streams but weak in language proficiency.
Rinzin Dema, a parent in Thimphu said, “From what I see, if a student is good in other subjects, I think it’s good for the student to re-sit their Dzongkha and English exams because most of our children score low in Dzongkha subject. Therefore, if they can re-sit, it will not affect other subjects.”
Ugyen Wangdi, another parent said,“We hear from others who think that some student perform well in science subjects but just because they underperformed in English, they are left without opportunities.”
Likewise, students expressed optimism that the change will make a difference for them.
Tashi Jigme Choden, a student of Gyalpoizhing HSS, Monggar said, “Even if we score high marks in other academic subjects and score low in one of the main subjects, this affects our future but now with the system change, we can try our luck again and sit for exams.”
As of now, the ministry revealed that a student will be eligible for re-sit only if they have scored more than 80 in four other subjects. However, this could change once the ministry finalises its decision.
The ministry will open the registration for the re-sit only after the rechecking of papers is completed.
The ministry will issue a news release outlining the details of the re-sit soon.
Singye Dema
