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It is gold for Yurung school

16 November 2009

On a cold December day in 1958, a group of 23 children and their parents from Dungmin village was summoned to the residence of Shumar Dungpa, Babu Tashi (Chief Justice Sonam Tobgay’s father).
Among them was a boy who nursed a better chance of receiving kidu to bypass mandatory schooling that was being introduced for the first time in Dungsam region. The boy, now Health Minister Zangley Drukpa, remembers vividly the words of Babu Tashi which changed his destiny forever. “I am granting kidu by sending your son to school,” Babu Tashi told his father on the courtyard of his naktshang (manor house) in Nangkhor.
The boys were to become the first batch of about 200 students from the region to study in Yurung Primary School, which was built by Babu Tashi on the command of the third Druk Gyalpo. In February, 1959, Yurung PS embarked on a fateful journey with three teachers handpicked by Babu Tashi. Today, it is 50 years old.
And today, some of the finest doctors, veterinarians, engineers, lawyers, teachers and other professionals, who started their primary education in Yurung PS, serve the nation in various capacities.
Health Minister Zangley Drukpa is the most illustrious of the many distinguished alumni of the school.
In a befitting manner, an array of alumni converged at the school to celebrate its golden jubilee on November 1. For the school and the community, it was a history repeating itself once again. The presence of the Chief Justice as the chief guest was both befitting and symbolic.
“In 1959, my father asked you to teach and take care of the students. After fifty years, his son stands in front of you to thank most profusely for your services to the people of Dungsam and the country at large,” Lyonpo Sonam Tobgay told a solemn gathering. He urged the students to strive for excellence in their pursuit of knowledge with their values and virtues. “It is values that brought us together at this finest hour to render our due and pray for the continued success of the school in the service of the tsawasum through right conduct and noble mind,” he said.
He added that the celebration of the golden jubilee on the coronation day of the fifth King was an appropriate occasion to pay tribute to great monarchs and pray for their glorious reign. It was also a time to reaffirm our loyalty to His Majesty the Druk Gyalpo.
“This school is a proud product of the vision of the first Druk Gyalpo who in 1941 had sent 46 Bhutanese students to SUMI in Kalimpong. They later pioneered the shaping of future Bhutan,” he said, and underlined the importance of tha damtshi and ley jumdrey in daily lives.
The day-long ceremony began with traditional chipdrel and marching ceremonies followed by cultural programmes. One of the highlights of the event was the felicitation from the school’s founding teachers. The two surviving teachers, its first headmaster, Lopoen Tshewang Norbu, and Lopoen Sherap, both in their early nineties, joined the alumni in celebration.
A family member of late Lopoen Dorji Wangchuk also partook of the celebration. A Jampelyang statue was unveiled on the day. The following day, a trulku administered blessings to the public and conducted Riwo Sangchoe or cleansing ceremony at Goetsho, a lake above Yurung village.
The current school principal, Ugyen Wangdi, said the celebration was a big moment for his students to draw inspiration from successful people who gathered to mark the day. “It was also an experience of a lifetime for all of us,” he said.
The community people’s programmes included an enactment of a scene of people migrating to the Indian border and their return journey. Until recent times, migrating to the bordering plains was a way of life for the people of the region.
They sang familiar songs from the past which dwelt on trials and tribulations of that time. The school and the alumni also jointly published a magazine to mark the golden jubilee.
The articles in the magazine contained the memories of its alumni. Contributors shared their experiences of their lives in the school at various points of time.
A few clippings from Babu Tashi’s personal diary revealed what he went through while trying to put the school in place. His anguish at poverty which prevented parents from sending their children to school was not only poignant, but also reflected the hard lives of the people in those days.
According to records, for the first five years, Choekey and Hindi were the media of instruction in the school. And for five years, children put up in little huts built around the school. Students did not pay any fee, but if they broke a slate, they had to pay a fine of Nu 1.
In 50 years, Yurung PS has managed to graduate from a primary school to a lower secondary school. Officials say that, plans to upgrade the school with external funding could not take off because of the lack of road without which the much needed materials cannot be transported.
The dzongkhag’s former education officer had earlier said that the upgradation plans in both the ninth and 10th plan could not take off for want of road. “Since accessibility is still a problem, we are taking up phased infrastructural development for the school.
The work for a 90-bedded girls’ hostel will begin this year followed by either multipurpose hall or boys’ hostel next year,” said Dzongda Gholing Tshering. The school with boarding facilities at present has 292 students, 12 teachers and 10 non-teaching staff.
Beautifully located on a small hillock, the school occupies about 21 acres of land with ample room for infrastructure development.

Yurung Lower Secondary School in Pemagatshel, one of the oldest schools in the country, is today the alma mater of some of the finest and illustrious servants of the nation. As the school turned 50 this November, Gyembo Namgyel finds out what it means to the nation.

This structure, which still houses Yurung PS, was built in 1958On a cold December day in 1958, a group of 23 children and their parents from Dungmin village was summoned to the residence of Shumar Dungpa, Babu Tashi (Chief Justice Sonam Tobgay’s father).

Among them was a boy who nursed a better chance of receiving kidu to bypass mandatory schooling that was being introduced for the first time in Dungsam region. The boy, now Health Minister Zangley Drukpa, remembers vividly the words of Babu Tashi which changed his destiny forever. “I am granting kidu by sending your son to school,” Babu Tashi told his father on the courtyard of his naktshang (manor house) in Nangkhor.

The boys were to become the first batch of about 200 students from the region to study in Yurung Primary School, which was built by Babu Tashi on the command of the third Druk Gyalpo. In February, 1959, Yurung PS embarked on a fateful journey with three teachers handpicked by Babu Tashi. Today, it is 50 years old.

And today, some of the finest doctors, veterinarians, engineers, lawyers, teachers and other professionals, who started their primary education in Yurung PS, serve the nation in various capacities.

Health Minister Zangley Drukpa is the most illustrious of the many distinguished alumni of the school.

In a befitting manner, an array of alumni converged at the school to celebrate its golden jubilee on November 1. For the school and the community, it was a history repeating itself once again. The presence of the Chief Justice as the chief guest was both befitting and symbolic.

babu tashi“In 1959, my father asked you to teach and take care of the students. After fifty years, his son stands in front of you to thank most profusely for your services to the people of Dungsam and the country at large,” Lyonpo Sonam Tobgay told a solemn gathering. He urged the students to strive for excellence in their pursuit of knowledge with their values and virtues. “It is values that brought us together at this finest hour to render our due and pray for the continued success of the school in the service of the tsawasum through right conduct and noble mind,” he said.

He added that the celebration of the golden jubilee on the coronation day of the fifth King was an appropriate occasion to pay tribute to great monarchs and pray for their glorious reign. It was also a time to reaffirm our loyalty to His Majesty the Druk Gyalpo.

“This school is a proud product of the vision of the first Druk Gyalpo who in 1914 had sent 46 Bhutanese students to SUMI in Kalimpong. They later pioneered the shaping of future Bhutan,” he said, and underlined the importance of tha damtshi and ley jumdrey in daily lives.

The day-long ceremony began with traditional chipdrel and marching ceremonies followed by cultural programmes. One of the highlights of the event was the felicitation from the school’s founding teachers. The two surviving teachers, its first headmaster, Lopoen Tshewang Norbu, and Lopoen Sherap, both in their early nineties, joined the alumni in celebration.

A family member of late Lopoen Dorji Wangchuk also partook of the celebration. A Jampelyang statue was unveiled on the day. The following day, a trulku administered blessings to the public and conducted Riwo Sangchoe or cleansing ceremony at Goetsho, a lake above Yurung village.

The current school principal, Ugyen Wangdi, said the celebration was a big moment for his students to draw inspiration from successful people who gathered to mark the day. “It was also an experience of a lifetime for all of us,” he said.

The community people’s programmes included an enactment of a scene of people migrating to the Indian border and their return journey. Until recent times, migrating to the bordering plains was a way of life for the people of the region.

They sang familiar songs from the past which dwelt on trials and tribulations of that time. The school and the alumni also jointly published a magazine to mark the golden jubilee.

The articles in the magazine contained the memories of its alumni. Contributors shared their experiences of their lives in the school at various points of time.

A few clippings from Babu Tashi’s personal diary revealed what he went through while trying to put the school in place. His anguish at poverty which prevented parents from sending their children to school was not only poignant, but also reflected the hard lives of the people in those days.

According to records, for the first five years, Choekey and Hindi were the media of instruction in the school. And for five years, children put up in little huts built around the school. Students did not pay any fee, but if they broke a slate, they had to pay a fine of Nu 1.

In 50 years, Yurung PS has managed to graduate from a primary school to a lower secondary school. Officials say that, plans to upgrade the school with external funding could not take off because of the lack of road without which the much needed materials cannot be transported.

The dzongkhag’s former education officer had earlier said that the upgradation plans in both the ninth and 10th plan could not take off for want of road. “Since accessibility is still a problem, we are taking up phased infrastructural development for the school.

The work for a 90-bedded girls’ hostel will begin this year followed by either multipurpose hall or boys’ hostel next year,” said Dzongda Gholing Tshering. The school with boarding facilities at present has 292 students, 12 teachers and 10 non-teaching staff.

Beautifully located on a small hillock, the school occupies about 21 acres of land with ample room for infrastructure development.

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Comments

5 Responses to “It is gold for Yurung school”

  1. Karma Wangdi on November 16th, 2009 5:47 am

    Please correct the the year 1941 the year the first king sent the first group of students to Klingon as 1914.

  2. Lotash Krampa on November 16th, 2009 11:09 pm

    What a vision! Education alone is the salvation for people to go forward. We need more such visionaries.

  3. Jigme on November 17th, 2009 10:02 pm

    A great School but denied rising. Upgraded only to a LSS even after 50 years of service to the nation.

  4. sanga dorji on November 18th, 2009 1:49 pm

    karma my dear fren i think you are mistaken to correct the year it is as given in the news, and about the up gradation its always like that,,, coz some schools in trashigang are also there that they were started in 1960 and its now also LSS

  5. Karma Wangdi on November 21st, 2009 6:12 pm

    Correct Klingon as Kalimpong in my comment.
    Dear Sanga, the year has been corrected as 1914 after my comment.

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