Currently, I am
on tour to the eastern districts of our country along with my colleagues.The
centre piece of our tour was to consult with the districts and in particular
with the District Education Officers (DEOs) on preparation of draft 11th
Five Year Plan. We were also looking at various construction projects in the
East. We reached Trashiyangtse district, the eastern most districts which share
border with India and China after a day of working in Mongar district on 9th
November, 2012.
When we reached
in Trashiyangtse, at the outset, the DEO invited us to Langmadung PS as guests for
their Annual Sports Day which was scheduled 10th November, 2012. We
were looking forward for the opportunity which seldom crossed our path. To make
it to the Sports day, we were to complete our purpose of visit. To meet our
intended purpose, we worked very late in the night and with great effort we were
able to complete all our work and set for the sports day.
In the morning
we went to Langmadung PS accompanied by the DEO. Present in the reception were
the Principal and teachers with parents who received us very warmly in keeping
with our aged old tradition.
Langmadung is a
tiny school established in 2008. Today the class ranges from PP through VI
which is a primary cycle of education in Bhutan. With 96 students the school is
manned by 7 young and inspiring teachers. While the school is small and located
in the rural, there are many big initiatives taken recently. We could see a lot
of hopes and dreams in the school. Unlike in many schools in the urban area,
the school lack many facilities. However, the school has proven that education
can take place even under the tree. We were reminded that fabulous
infrastructure can reach so far but no further.
Many big
wonderful initiatives are taking place in this school. From many initiatives,
one such initiative is ‘whole school approach’. They strongly believe that a school
is place of learning; therefore, they encourage full participation. Another
equally important initiative was ‘designed for change.’ The school is also
partnering with a private school in Thimphu. Annually, they have cultural
exchange programme between urban schools and remote schools. Such initiative will
teach our urban youths, their roots while providing exposure for the children
from rural schools.
Another worth
noting features and perhaps very rare is the support of the community to the
schools. Even though, most of the parents are not so well to do, but they
realized the importance of quality education. Parents’ collaboration and
community support to the school is very distinct feature. Continuation of such
noble participation by the parents will definitely take the quality of
education to the other heights. Parents have contributed both in terms of cash
and labour for the construction of prayer wheel in the school. They have also
constructed classrooms for their children to study apart from provision of
alter in each class. These made the school rich spiritually. Such acts are
vanishing speedily from our society.
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| Balloon game by PP children |
During the
sports day, I was amazed. The ground is approximately 30 m square. At the
beginning I was silently wondering how to conduct sports events under such
circumstances. But with initiatives from the inspiring teachers, various games
and sports have been improvise to soot the ground. I was amazed to see that
they were able to improvise and showcase varieties of sports in the small
ground. It was my first time seeing most of the sports events that were being
played. They had organized in such a way that all the children can participate
in one or other games. Interesting games were also reserved for parents and
guests. The day provided us every reason to rejoice.
