Playing Police Where There is no Police

The Dochula Block saga begins again. The road widening works are back, they always wait for the rainy season. The mess from last season has not been taken care of yet and now new works have begun at three locations. Traffic remains closed for hours, there are police on the spot and of course roadside thukpa sellers. When traffic opens on regular intervals vehicles go wild from both directions. There is nobody to manage the flow.
So on a typical day, I was on my way to Thimphu. I waited an hour sandwiched between hundreds of vehicles. I finished reading all the tweets I missed in many days and completed several levels on Diamond Dash. When the floodgate of frustrated traffic opened I landed up after two trucks. We were moving like glacier. Soon a truck from other direction slipped and hit its body onto the nose of the first truck before me. Everybody came out and that's it, the traffic came to standstill.
It took quite sometime for me to dare put my new shoe into the red mud covering the road. I went to the accident spot only to find that the two drivers haven't even started talking. They were facing away from each other and talking with their groups of supporter- you know how people take sides. I looked at the damage, the dent was only about a punch size that could hardly be worth Nu.1000.

Look who is angry!

The driver of the damaged truck blames the other for not stopping and not keeping enough gap but it's clearly visible the there was no room for safe gap and that he had slipped despite stopping. There was rather space on his side and he could have moved a little away. I voiced that. I told them that there is no way any road safety official could reach us from either end and waiting there any longer will only build the traffic jam that could lead to bigger problems. So I decided that they share the cost. With Nu.500 we began clearing the jam. It was another hour before I could finally free myself from the snailing convoy. But damn, only to be stopped at the next block.
It took me six hours to reach Thimphu. What causes this problem? Does road widening have to be road blocking? Do we really have to stop traffic? Well I heard that thing about safety, but where is the safety in creating traffic jam along the unstable hill (remember the incident from last year? I nearly lost a friend. he lost his hi-lux though and nobody paid for it) Don't we have a smarter alternative? Though Bhutanese are generally lazy we still have better things to do than play mobile games at high altitude road block.

Computer Programming to Begin in Primary School

I had the honour of working with the best brains of Bhutan on two major ICT projects under Education. We worked on Bhutan's first Education ICT Master Plan, which we fondly called iSherig, from June to Nov 2013. This will Rationalize and streamline ICT activities, systems and projects under Education Sector. It's submitted to the ministry for endorsement and implementation. 

And last winter I joined a team of 26 IT faculty in Gelephu to design the ICT curriculum framework. It's the first implementation step of iSherig that DCRD is taking. We spent nearly a month working on the framework that is expected to be timely and timeless, but the big event was not covered by any media and therefore let me briefly share about it.

ICT Framework Designers. If it fails we are responsible!

I know it's boring to read about government workshops, but I promise you there are many exciting changes you must note. As of now ICT literacy in school is provided by Chigphen Rigphel Project, which covers every student from Class VII to XII. The project will end in 2015. IT is provided as elective subject in Class IX to XII. In IX and X students are taught Microsoft Applications, and in XI and XII students learn HTML and JavaScript.

In the new Framework:

ICT Literacy will begin in Class IV and end in Class X. Computer Applications as elective in class IX and X is done away with however Elective remains intact in XI and XII. 

The curriculum content is broadly divided into four strands:

1. Computer Hardware and Applications
2. Internet and Services
3. Digital Citizenship
4. Programming

These four strands will stretch throughout class levels, which means even Computer Programming will begin in class IV. Did I scare you? Well there are child friendly, graphical programming platform for young children, that will lay strong foundation for the future programmers. 

By Class VIII students would have finished studying what is currently taught in Class X. They will be designing web pages using HTML, PHP and CSS. They will be recording, editing and publishing audio and video contents on internet. By then every child is expected to own a blog and maintain it as their digital portfolio. 

As we let loose our children on the Internet there are various risks that could jeopardize all the good intention therefore one solid strand is put in place to take care of this aspect- digital citizenship. Under this children will be educated on legal and ethical behaviour in use of technology, how to remain secure and to respect others. 

It was just the framework, now what goes into the textbook will be decided this winter. If you want to share anything about the ICT curriculum please leave your feedback or advice in my comment box. 

Bbay Story on Kuensel K2 Mag

K2 Magazine Cover

BBay Story

Thank you Thinley Zangmo and K2 for publishing bBay story.

21st Feb 2014

Last year on this special holiday I wrote the following short note. I am sharing this again to stress on the fact that time has changed.

November 11 was the last of holidays before we wind up our school and sit for exam during our times as children. It used to be the holiday we would wait all year long. It was the time we finally become resolute about sitting down and getting serious about our exams. It was the national birthday we would celebrate with all our hearts.
Now comes February 21, which is the first of holidays in spring, before we turn the first page of our books in school. Perhaps early national birthday has a significance of its own, time has changed. The Changed time demands earlier realization, right in spring. The luxury of relaxing till November is gone with our times.

I am also happy to see that Bhutanese Film industry has brought their Annual award show to Punakha for the first time, and Bhutan Olympic (?) is organizing a marathon from Gasa to Punakha to celebrate His Majesty's Birthday. Not everything should happen in Thimphu, and the time has come.

HM's Birthday Banner

Happy Birthday your majesty, May almighty bless you with health and strength and protect you from all harm on your selfless journey of love and leadership.

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.

Duplicate Key

I have posted about it on Facebook but I am posting it here again for my readers who aren't connected to me there, assuming there would be lot of you out there who are as careless and absent minded like me.

I lost the spare key to my car. I have no idea where and when I lost it. With just one key and my absent mind, I waste a lot of energy worrying about it. My worst fear came alive when I had to leave my car on the road for a night in Gelephu. That was when I decided I will get duplicate key made in Phuntsholing.

Kezang knows about a man on the street who makes key. We went looking for him but there was another stall instead. We asked about him only to find out he is no more. The art of street key making died with him. We thought it was the end.

Blank Key and my Original

It was only the end of crude craft but the beginning of professional key making. Shakti Workshop in Jaigoan now has the key making technology. They pick a blank key and in less than five mins the machine can photocopy our original key on to the blank one. Nu.350 price tag is very reasonable considering how much calm it brings to the mind that always remains absent.

However, I am a lucky owner of an old generation car that accepts duplicate keys. If you are thinking of getting one please read the user guide to understand the technology of your system
because most new cars are said to come with digital sensor that could sense duplicate key and result in disabling the whole lock system.

Wasting Second Chance

The following news last year sounded like a piece of soothing music. It was something I always wished for. I was so happy for my students who try so hard, for the students who come from difficult economic background, for the students whose luck run out when it's most needed. All of them are going to have a second chance now.

"The government has decided to allow students, who fail in classes X and XII board examinations to repeat once in the same school from the next academic year." -Kuensel 2013, Nov

 “What we're doing is very little and of course there are risks involved, but that won't stop us from giving a second chance to students, who’re genuinely in need of a second chance to complete their schooling,” -Education Minister 

Now the board exam results are declared. There are students with excellent marks. There are ones who just made it. There are ones who missed by few marks and there are the ones who failed clearly. And suddenly my excitement about the 'second chance' disappeared. I was looking at my school result sheet and studying the marks. I was feeling differently for different groups of students: Happy for the ones on the top of the list, sorry for the middle ones, and upset with bottom of the list.
It's more upsetting to realise that only the ones who failed are going to get the second chance. There could be some students with serious learning difficulties, otherwise failing is a very difficult thing to do in board exams with pass percent of just 40% for XII and 35% X. It only means they didn't bother much (Very evident from the result sheet I am holding).
If anybody deserves second chance it the group of students who passed the exam but failed to clear the qualifying mark by few points. They are the ones who tried. Their efforts should be acknowledged by a second chance. But the policy does not allow this.

However, the policy would be reviewed from time to time when necessary, so that the “privilege is utilised judiciously.”   -Education Minister

I am hopeful that with one of implementation we would realize the flaw in it and consider better ways so that the second chances are not wasted.

Dayscholars in Yangthang

My winter vacation ended with a brief visit to my village for the lochoey. It pains me to realize how growing up took me away from this place I once thought I can never part from. I never had a dream bigger than living in Yangthang. Perhaps this is always going to be my dream now that it is becoming harder by the year to pay my annual visits.

Vacation ends in Yangthang

Every year Yangthang seems like another place to me, everything about it is changing. There are good changes that I am proud of. But there is a price to pay for changing. Sometime I wonder if everything is worth the change.

Once upon my time in village, family was the most important relationship among my folks. Divorce was just a myth we just heard of. Only death could do a couple apart, literally. But now that's a fairy tale. This time when I was home I was introduced to a new term in the village: "Dayscholar". You know the actual meaning of the word but in my village it's a term referring to a person who has returned to their parental home because of marital issues with their spouse. Coming out as a dayscholar sometimes ends in divorce, like in the cases of many couples there. I met some men back in the village who were married into other villages when I was a little boy. They are dayscholars now.

Beautiful Yangthang from the Highway

This is a sad development in a village where marriage was considered sacred. They believe that this is the price they are paying for using cell phones besides the endless recharges.

Friends across Border

After a month long vacation in Gelephu, I am left with no more appetite for fun in Phuntsholing. It's time to relax and retune my mood back to normal mode because in few days I will be back in school. It's already my fourth day in Phuntsholing but I haven't seen anything here yet, perhaps I don't want to go out like I used to do. I wouldn't even be stopping here for so long if Friday wasn't a holiday. It cost me three more days to wait for Monday to visit one office here.

Waiting seems to make days last longer. Thank god we are offered a nice suite room to complete our holiday in south. So in between endless sleeping and television shows I am working on the wonderful host's design works, from logo to signboard, website to Facebook Page for the hotel.

And like an annual ritual I visited my friend Bikash in supermarket. We met some seven years ago. On the first day of his clothing business we met and the following year when I went to meet him he was more than happy to see me. He said his business is booming, he already owned two shops and supplied to other shops as well. He said we were his lucky charm. So this lucky charm goes to meet him every year.

Bikash- Seven Years of Friendship

Another friend I made over the years was Amit Kumar. I know him for five years now. He brought Gola to Jaigoan from Mumbai. He would always ask about my family and send us message through common friends. He has hundreds of Bhutanese friends but when I meet him he will always make me feel like I am his best friend. He and other momo guys are moved from their regular location and are currently operating near Hanuman temple. They are fighting to come back.

I suggested him to visit Thimphu and other places across Bhutan during festivals and he liked the idea.

Ninzi with Amit's Gola, and Amit is Standing behind her!

Gelephu Airport- the Biggest Photo Studio

Another Landmark place to visit in Gelephu is of course the Airport. It's a few minutes drive from the Gelephu town on Sarpang Highway. You will be surprised at the security system there- the gate is unmanned and open, you can drive your car on to the runway. It feels very empty to see a brand new facility so deserted, there is not a structure to be seen anywhere within view, forget any aircraft.

Since no plane is landing, I landed there!

The dream of an airport in Gelephu remained on the pillow for ages, but that dream somehow seemed so sweet to me now when I look at the vastness of the plain. If Bhutan wants an airport of international standard Gelephu has the scope. Of course Paro will always remain our iconic airport.

I don't know why Gelephu is so shy about growing. Nothing seemed to have worked well here. It's such a waste of this beautiful place. Even the airport is more like a photo studio, where people come with cameras take picture in different pose.

This is the last post I am writing from Gelephu. But I have some more to write about this place when I reach home. I have been here for 24 days and tomorrow morning at 8 am PaSsu Diary is Signing out from Gelephu.
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