His majesty Druk Gyalpo (King) Jigme Khesar Namgyal Wangchuk, the fifth monarch of Bhutan (pop. 6 million) — the stamp size Himalayan kingdom sandwiched between India’s eastern border and China — recently celebrated his 27th birthday by announcing wide ranging education reforms. “I have great pride to inherit from the fourth Druk Gyalpo the valuable legacy of Indo-Bhutan friendship and cooperation and I am duty bound to further strengthen it. I hope this unique alliance born from the efforts of the leaders of our two nations will be inherited by the people and that affection and friendship between our two peoples will henceforth be the bond that binds our destinies together forever,” says Jigme Khesar, the eldest son of former Bhutanese king Jigme Singye Wangchuck, who voluntarily abdicated the throne in his son’s favour on December 14 last year. A highly educated alumnus of the Phillips Academy (Andover), Cushing Academy and Wheaton College, Massachusetts, USA, and Magdalen College, Oxford which awarded him an M.Phil in politics, HM Jigme Khesar has identified education of its young population as Bhutan’s top priority under the new dispensation. “Like India we are a young country, with the average age of a Bhutanese citizen a mere 23 years. Bhutan has an overall student population of 190,273 including those in the non-formal and monastic education system, and those studying outside the country. The national literacy rate is only 60 percent though gross primary school enrollment rate is 96 percent. Responding to criticism that the quality of education in the country was deteriorating, we started an initiative to reform the education sector last year. Reforms in the area of curriculum, reviewing school activities, enhancing use of information communication technology in education, infrastructure expansion and improving teacher quality, have already been initiated,” says HM Jigme Khesar. In the higher education sector Bhutan is all set to promote its second degree college and the kingdom’s sole university — the Royal University of Bhutan (RUB) — will move to a 289-acre site on the outskirts of Bhutan’s capital Thimpu (pop.50,000) in December. “One in three graduates in Bhutan has either studied in India or other countries. Right now higher education is available only to those who can afford to go abroad or to those of exemplary merit who manage to get a place in RUB. This scenario has to change and the promotion of the new college will increase higher education capacity,” says the modest, self-effacing monarch. Meanwhile the expansion and development of RUB is proceeding as per plan. New degree prgrammes have been introduced in Dzongkha (the kingdom’s lingua franca), computer sciences and business administration to replace Delhi University affiliated study programmes. “Our intent is to introduce more independent degree courses on a par with global standards by 2008. Our ultimate aim is to make RUB degrees acceptable worldwide,” adds his majesty. Srinidhi Raghavendra (Thimpu) R&D missionaries On February 5, Indiana-based Purdue University’s Discovery Park, a $300 million inter-disciplinary research facility comprising ten centres of innovation spread over 40 acres in the US,…
