Changing 200 Lives

10,659 students appeared class X examination in December 2013, of which 95.93% (10,225) passed the exam. Of course there is hardly any excitement in passing class X because there is a huge gap between passing the exam and qualifying for class XI. While you can pass with just 35% it take 61% to make it to class XI this year.

While the 4.07% of students who fail could repeat in government school, over 5000 students who passed but couldn't score qualification mark are left to their own fate. For some it could be the end of their educational journey.

I don't really understand the Maths and Science behind setting the cut off point at certain percent, so I am assuming that it's fixed based on the available seats in government schools. If that's the case, and hopefully should be, what happens to the seats of those students who qualified for government school but for some reason choose to study in private schools?

Private school business is booming with world class strategies. Within the last few year they have shifted from school for disqualified students to school for toppers. With very welcoming infrastructure and unique systems in place private school are attracting parents and students alike. It has become a culture over the last few year for the brilliant students to leave for private school after class X mostly on scholarship. There are also many students who despite qualifying for free education in government school still opt to pay heavy fees and study in private school.

This trend, I humbly assume, will at least create 200 vacancies in government schools, or twice more. Keeping these seats empty has no benefit for the government. However if these seats are gifted as scholarship to 200 disqualified students who are socially very good, emotionally very intelligent but economically challenged, it can be a national investment. It will be an acknowledgement for being a good human being. They may go grow up to change this country for better. In them we might get the future prime minister of Bhutan. Education should not be limited to those who do well in exam.




Dear Education Ministry, Please use this opportunity to change at least 200 lives.

The Best School in Bhutan

After the declaration of Board Exam results, it's interesting to see and hear how people make bold judgement on schools. Which school is the best in 2011? There is yet no official research done on this though, but Bhutanese society must have already declare their result by now. And I am not even curious to know the result because I know the foolishness with which the result is drawn. Even the official declaration of "Top Ten Schools" last year amused me, because even they thought it wise to judge schools by their academic results.

Bajothang in Summer

My school is one among the few schools decorated with ill reputation by the public, and therefore they want to take away their good performing children to schools with good reputation. This is an annual trend and many of our academic toppers leave for "better" schools. They don't stop for a while to reflect on which school made them who they are, not even their parents. Their ticket to "better" schools are confirmed because they are going with outstanding marks, and therefore keeping up the reputation of that school.
But here we begin again with new set of students, and the best part of my school is that we don't look at their past- their character certificate and mark sheets. If we are so hungry about reputation we would just take in students with good marks and stainless character certificate but we are not.
Not every child is born with intelligence, not every child is born talented but if a school wants the intelligent and talented students where would the less gifted majority go? Children are young and innocent and aimless, therefore they can be naughty, aggressive, violent and mannerless but they have the right to education, they have the right to grow and correct themselves. If a school denies them admission, where would they get time to fine their way in life?
My school takes in just everybody because it's the school's moral responsibility to educate every child- not just every good child. It's not about building and keeping reputation of a school, it's about children's right to education. And in keeping with this national interest we land up having disciplinary problems, and sometimes poor academic result. And that's how we get our ill reputation by doing good. Should we mind?
School is just an open stage, students themselves are the magicians. And my school is a stage where all magicians are given equal space and time- often some magics are different but magic is a magic after all, god made it that way, and we have learnt to accept that.
Going by the result my school is not the best school in 2011, but going by what I know of my school it is the best school and I am proud.

School Boy who pays his own fees

Last week we called all our students' parents to mid-term result day. And in the presence of the parents we announced how we mistakenly collected Nu.100 extra from junior classes as school fees and that we were going to give that back. In my class VII C, I have 24 students whose parents came in one after another to sign on mark sheet and to collect the money.
Suddenly there was one father who didn't take the money, and asked me to give it to the boy himself! I insisted him on taking the money, reasoning that the money must go to where it came from, or it may disappear between school and home. The father proudly said that the money belonged to the boy, he paid his own school fee and even helped parents in household shopping from his winter earnings.
I looked at lean Tej Prasad for a long time and admired the man in him. I made the class applaud for him and asked them to get inspired from him. Age should not be an excuse. For the first time I loved the boy who pays his own fees more than the Monk who sold his Ferrari!