Much of the current discussions among teachers in Bhutanese middle secondary schools revolves around whether Bhutan history should continue to be taught in Dzongkha or should it revert to being taught in English as in the past.
The education ministry translated the Class 7 Bhutan History textbook from English to Dzongkha so that it could be taught to the students from the 2006 academic session. The year after that, it did the same with the Class 8 history textbook. The rationale was to promote and improve the national language and raise it to the level of English.
During this week’s pre-education conference in Thimphu, teachers, particularly from the capital, suggested that Bhutan History should be taught in English instead of Dzongkha. They said Bhutanese teachers, especially those trained in English, were not confident with teaching history in Dzongkha. There was also a shortage of Dzongkha lopens in the country, who were specifically trained to teach the language.
A Mongar history teacher, Pelden Zangmo, agreed that she was not confident enough to teach the subject in Dzongkha and therefore gave the subject to a Dzongkha language teacher. But they have an understanding between them. “I have years of experience in teaching history, so the Dzongkha language teacher and I would sit together, discuss lessons and prepare exam questions together,� she said.
Such a combination of skills seems to be the only way out for teachers caught in this rather difficult situation. According to observers, the problems lies in the fact that teaching Dzongkha, a language, and teaching history as a subject are two different things that require different skills. Some suggest that, for teaching Bhutan History in Dzongkha to be successful, teachers will have to be reoriented with the necessary skills.
Teachers also pointed out that by teaching history in Dzongkha, the whole essence of the history subject was lost because students were more focussed on learning the language and understanding the terminology than the subject.
A 14-year-old class eight student in Thimphu, Sonam Chuki, said that Bhutan History was the most difficult subject for her because she had to spend hours to get the spelling and the grammar right. “I read the old English history textbooks to understand Bhutan History better but writing what I understood in dzongkha was definitely difficult,� she said.
Teachers in Thimphu also said that additional teachers and classrooms were required to teach Bhutan History to non-Bhutanese students.
Others at the conference felt that it was too early to make judgments on the curriculum. “It’s been only two years and is too soon to decide whether we should continue or discontinue the subject in dzongkha,� said Principal Passang Norbu of Tashitse middle secondary school in Trashigang.
Passang Norbu said that schools should continue the course because the government had already spent heavily on printing books and that students did not really have much problem learning Bhutan History in Dzongkha. “Reverting the course will further confuse the students. Students, especially in the east, have no problem with the subject being taught in dzongkha,� he said.
But the education ministry needs to do an in-depth impact study soon to decide whether the program should be continued, or not, according to a Thimphu teacher. “We have to think about the students since they’re the ultimate winners or losers,� she said. “We want to help promote Dzongkha but we also have a mandate to deliver quality education to the children.�
Education officials said that they have received a lot of feedbacks on the issue, mostly negative. The education ministry, however, will take a decision only in 2009 after a joint study by the education ministry and the Dzongkha Development Commission. Source: Kuenselonline
