The National Council today had some strong words for the Education Ministry as members including the Chairperson expressed disappointment over the justification provided by the ministry for not being able to reinstate Dzongkha as the medium of instruction for Bhutan History, Social Studies and Civics subjects.
The Education Ministry’s justification of inadequate national language teachers as the reason for not being able to teach the subjects in Dzongkha attracted sharp rebuke. Members slammed the justification as nothing but “a lame excuse”.
The National Council, in its last session, recommended the Education Ministry to consider teaching the subjects in Dzongkha in schools to promote the national language and Bhutanese values. It also proposed for reintroduction of textbooks on Namthar and Legshey in the school curriculum.
Bumthang MP Nima said there are bilingual graduates of Taktse College of Language and Cultural Studies who can teach History very well if given an opportunity. MP Nima added the ministry, in its response to the NC’s recommendation, also does not mention about any plans to make it a possibility.
Dismissing the ministry’s justification as disheartening, the National Council Chairperson, Dasho Sonam Kinga said there is no reason not to teach Bhutanese contents in Bhutanese language to the Bhutanese students.
He added just as the ministry trained teachers to teach Shakespeare, it should be able to put in the same commitment and effort into promoting our own subjects.
The National Council also expressed dissatisfaction with the ministry’s response to its recommendation of carrying out a feasibility study on teaching Bhutan History in Dzongkha.
The ministry stated that the Royal Education Council has expressed a need for a feasibility study by a third party. But there is no mention of who that third party is or could be, and that led the NC members to term the response as “vague”.
