Column

Building a model for an inclusive development

Context Though Bhutan’s geographical area is comparable to Switzerland, Denmark, Netherland and Taiwan, it lags behind in terms of per capita income and Human Development Index ranking. However, given its resource base and with only 0.7 million people to look after, it has potential to improve living standard of its poor in a short span [...]

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The changing villages of Bhutan

Last month, I went around some of our remote villages in the east. The signs of development are obvious to a visitor. The houses have been rebuilt and some of them are brightly whitewashed. The old ghostly looking houses with crumbling houses are a rare sight. In the past, when I was a child, our [...]

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Tashi Delek on Sherig century

News has reached Australia of this significant celebration.  During my last decade as Senior Research Fellow at the Australian Council for Educational Research, I was privileged to make seven landings at Paro Airport on my way to work with officers of the Ministry of Education – the Centre for Educational Research and Development and the [...]

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Understanding climate change

The global atmospheric concentration of greenhouse gases, predominantly carbon dioxide (CO2), has increased after the industrial revolution. Apparently, atmospheric concentration of CO2 has increased from pre-industrial value of 280 to 380ppm and is expected to double within this century. Carbon dioxide is a major contributor of global warming. The irony of the fact is that [...]

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Spanking should have a place in Bhutanese classrooms

Media in Bhutan report that the absence of spanking in our school settings is the cause of many unimaginable and unwanted youth problems in Bhutan. I do not retort to this. Look at the present scenario of our country. Like pieces of sweet wrappers in every corner of towns, our youth, addicted and inebriated, rummage [...]

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Youth and the issues

At Royal Thimphu College this week, Opposition Leader Tshering Tobgay shared with faculty and students the many problems and challenges confronting the nation. He talked about the rupee shortage the country’s lately been suffering from, which could also be called economic crisis at home, and how important it is for Bhutan to grow its own [...]

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What ails our education system?

For a developing country like Bhutan, education is important to accelerate developmental activities. While education has done much good to the country and its people over the last 100 years, quality of education has become the much debated issue for some time now. There might be legitimate reasons for people to believe that the quality [...]

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The paradox of Bhutan’s fight against alcohol

The recent opening of Centennial Distillery in Sarpang raises a serious question on the government’s will to fight alcohol. It is ironical that a government, which claims to be an exponent of the noble ideals of Gross National Happiness, allows, of all things, a distillery that will produce alcohol, the root cause of many evil [...]

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Can we take ourselves to task?

Our schools have reopened this week. Everywhere we go, we see streams of children going to or coming from their schools. They are all fresh-faced and look rejuvenated. Most of them have spent their winter vacation productively. Some played games, some participated in reality shows, others worked by the roadsides, and still others helped their [...]

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Let’s change the food habit of our children

Children across the world are gaining more weight than ever before. Of course, I’m talking about the children who come from well-off families who are exposed to fast food or junk food. They consume a lot of high-fat and high-sugar food and spend less time being physically active because of the electric gadgets in the [...]

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