Nobding Lower Secondary School in Wangdue Phodrang is faced with shortage of Dzongkha teacher. For the school with about 400 students it has just one trained Dzongkha teacher. To assist him, two English teachers volunteered to teach Dzongkha in lower classes.
However, the two teachers said without proper training, it is not easy to teach Dzongkha.
One of the teachers who volunteered to teach Dzongkha said he had no option.
“It is not a problem to speak in Dzongkha. But since I am not a trained Dzongkha teacher it is difficult for me to teach grammar. Spelling is also a problem,” admits Pema Tenzin, a teacher.
The school Principal, Pema Kelden, said the English teachers are, in the meantime, substituting the Dzongkha teachers to address the problem for the time being.
In spite of shortage, the school is somehow managing to conduct regular Dzongkha classes, to keep up with the regular course outline.
Meanwhile, the Dzongkhag Education Officer, Tshewang Penjor, said that they hope to solve the problem by April this year. He reasoned that, out of the eight teachers transferred the Dzongkhag got only four as replacement.
For now, the School will have to manage with the only Dzongkha teacher.