Triumphing Through Teaching
Research suggests that a good teacher is the single most important factor in boosting student achievement, much more than class size, curriculum or infrastructure. So how do we draw good teachers into our ...
Get Sex Ed, Not Sexed
Look, unwanted pregnancies can complicate life. Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) can end life. That’s how serious this matter is. That’s how seriously we need sex education in Bhutanese schools, says Dichen Di Dicden.
I Teach So I Learn
Teachers don’t always teach and students don’t always learn. Sometimes, the roles are reversed. Sonam Palden reflects on how the biggest lessons often come from the smallest teachers.
The Smaller the Purse, the Harder they Fall
Education is the key to solving social ills like poverty, inequality and injustice. Education is also the key to achieving many of our cherished goals as a society and as a nation. We ...
The Media Issue
The response to Drukpa magazine's January issue on Bhutanese media has been overwhelming. Taking note of your comments, Drukpa magazine is proud to present the media issue online in its entity.
Looking Afar | Comments Off | 19th May, 2011
The Arab Spring sweep away the old and corrupt
By Travis Lupick
The mighty and corrupt of the Arab world have begun to fall. Now, it is time for the era of Mohamed Bouazizi to begin.
Today, the name Mohamed Bouazizi is one you can be sure is known to every third-rate tyrant, despot, and dictator from Equatorial Guinea to North Korea.
On December 17, 2010, Bouazizi awoke early and went to work selling produce on the streets of Sidi Bouzidm, Tunisia. There was nothing unusual about this; Bouazizi had worked as a street vendor since he was 10 years old.
Feature | Comments Off | 24th March, 2011
The Media Issue
By Staff
Since it’s publication on January 1, 2011, the response to Drukpa magazine’s issue on Bhutanese media has been overwhelming. Letters of critique and appreciation poured in for months and they, in all sincerity, have and continue to motivate us to do better.
Taking note of your comments, Drukpa magazine is proud to present the media issue online in its entity.
Please enjoy the full text of all of those articles, available at the links below.
Life Cycles | Comments Off | 22nd March, 2011
Paro Tsechu and the Unveiling of the Great Thangkha
Photographs by Travis Lupick
Each spring, the usually-quiet town of Paro comes alive with the annual Buddhist celebration of Tsechu.
This year, the five-day-long festival began on Tuesday, March 15, and climaxed in early the morning of Saturday, March 19. At 3:00 a.m., the great thangkha was unveiled, just one night ahead of the month’s full moon. Thousands of Bhutanese from around the country traveled to Paro Dzong to view the large silk tapestry and cleanse themselves of sin.
Ed-Speak | Comments Off | 1st March, 2011
Education
This month, in support of the National Education Day, Drukpa has dedicated this March issue to education and to all those hardworking educators who toil night and day to educate, empower and equip our children to take on the world.
The purpose of an education is to build up skills and knowledge critical to the process of development, and most of us have been educated in this very system and enjoyed many aspects of it. This makes it difficult to step out of the conditioning from the system, and that is perhaps a lot more difficult than dealing with issues like extending education to more children who cannot afford it. What we need are the very tools we acquired through education so as to rethink it. We need to veer away from looking at education as a service only intended for public good. Instead, policy makers have to find ways to make students care about what they’re being taught, especially if the children are going to retain knowledge about it.
Feature | Comments Off | 1st March, 2011
I Teach So I Learn
By Sonam Palden
Teachers don’t always teach and students don’t always learn. Sometimes, the roles are reversed. Sonam Palden reflects on how the biggest lessons often come from the smallest teachers
I write today because of this one incident. I was teaching History in Class VIII and we were discussing the controversial Duar Wars of 1865. Extolling the valiance of Jigme Namgyal, I had been telling the students how the Trongsa Peonlop got hold of the British cannons and towed them to Trongsa to celebrate his victory.
Feature | Comments Off | 1st March, 2011
Triumphing Through Teaching
By Mitra Raj
Research suggests that a good teacher is the single most important factor in boosting student achievement, much more than class size, curriculum or infrastructure. So how do we draw good teachers into our schools? Mitra Raj comments
Some teachers we never forget – those who equipped us with life’s tools, the ones we don’t hesitate to visit years after leaving school, the tutors who like good friends, opened doors and set us on the right course.
Feature | Comments Off | 1st March, 2011
As Handwriting Turns to Typewriting
By Sangay Tenzi
A study conducted by the Royal Education Council in 2008 confirmed that the quality of education was deteriorating
The secular modern education of the Bhutanese began in the early 1960s, in a small room located at a watermill at the base of Trongsa dzong. There was one teacher and one blackboard.
Feature | 3 Comments | 1st March, 2011
Phayul pang wagyalse laaglen in (He who leaves home and family is a Bodhisattva)
By Travis Lupick
Gone may be the days when a degree from Sherubtse or an Indian university guaranteed employment. But is it right that Bhutanese students should now regard the US, UK and Australia as their new Mecca? What does education abroad entail? Is it worth the hassle? Is it necessary at all? Travis Lupick finds out
Only 20 years old when she began her bachelor’s degree at Middlebury College in Vermont, Pema Tshomo joked that she was just turning old enough to drink. “I really didn’t have too difficult a time adjusting,” she said at her office in Thimphu. “But it was indeed a big shock.”
Back In the Day | Comments Off | 1st March, 2011
Loss, Life and Gratitude
By Tenzin Namgyel
After a lifetime of teaching and responsibility, a tragic event is softened by Royal kindness
The day that shattered Gour Hari Manna’s life occurred in June 2002, when his only son James died. As a Christian, Manna thought that he would never celebrate Christmas again until His Majesty the King visited him at his quarters on Christmas Night and said: “We have decorated a Christmas tree. It is for you and madam.”
Changing Lanes | Comments Off | 1st March, 2011
Let Mr. Merit Marry Education
By K.C. Jose
Teaching is not a profession. It is a calling. Teachers who hear the call must be allowed to do so without being overloaded with unnecessary impediments to their hearing, says K.C. Jose
Shakespeare’s Malvolio in The Twelfth Night receives a (fake) love letter ostensibly from the beautiful and rich lady of the house. Malvolio is only the steward of the house and the lady’s subordinate so the prospect of thus becoming the lord of the house is unexpected “greatness thrust upon”.
