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Begin New Search Topic Education Journal Journal of Bhutan Studies Publication Year within 10 Years Publication Year within 3 Years Publication Year within 5 Years

1. Teacher Attrition: Why do Public Teachers Leave?

Author:
Yangchen C. Rinzin
Publication Date:
10-2023
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal of Bhutan Studies
Institution:
Centre for Bhutan & GNH Studies (CBS)
Abstract:
In last six years, more than 300 Bhutanese public teachers left the profession annually on average. Teacher attrition has often been assumed as leaving the profession for better opportunities. Teachers leaving jobs has been discussed several times but never tried to understand the factors leading to attrition. This study explores the possible factors leading to teacher attrition from former teachers’ perspectives, who left the profession voluntarily. The study also aims to get views on what could be the ultimate solution to keep teachers in the field. A mix mode method of qualitative and quantitative research was adopted. A quantitative method was used with the objective to get the true perspectives from respondents regarding teacher attrition. The study was conducted in Bhutan in December 2021. The study determined heavy workload, unsatisfied with the job, lack of career mobility, poor leadership, and poor working conditions were major reasons for attrition. Contradicting what many assumed salaries as a major reason, respondents responded otherwise. The paper concludes that until there is job motivation or better working conditions along with the good incentives or remunerations, a mere increase in the salary is not going to make teaching profession attractive.
Topic:
Education, Teachers, Schools, Professions, and Attrition
Political Geography:
Bhutan

2. So Old and Yet So New: Buddhist Education and the Monastic Curriculum in Contemporary Bhutan

Author:
Dorji Gyeltshen and Manuel Lopez
Publication Date:
03-2022
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal of Bhutan Studies
Institution:
Centre for Bhutan & GNH Studies (CBS)
Abstract:
The emergence of a modern secular educational system in Bhutan in the 1960s forced the monastic institutions in the country to adapt and change to the new social, political and educational landscape. This article explores the transformation and changes to monastic education in Bhutan during the second half of the 20th century and the early 21st century, with a particular focus on the introduction of a new monastic curriculum in the 1980s and the rise of the Shedra (Tib. bshad grwa) or monastic college as the central religious educational institution in contemporary Bhutan. The article is based on research that took place during the summers of 2018 and 2019, where the authors visited dozens of monasteries, collected various curricula, and talked to monks and officials all over the country. We argue that Bhutan is in the midst of a new transformational period in which Buddhist education and the monastic curriculum are being revitalized through a series of innovations and changes that have to do as much with a dialogue with secular education as with the impact of other factors: the influence of transnational Buddhist movements and ideas, the introduction of the commentarial curriculum from Tibetan monasteries in India, and the loss of political power after the introduction of the Bhutanese constitution in 2008, among others. The result is a monastic curriculum that asserts specific Bhutanese sectarian and national identity, and introduces a religious education that is transforming monastic life and education in ways that we are only beginning to see.
Topic:
Education, Religion, Buddhism, and Curriculum
Political Geography:
South Asia, India, Tibet, and Bhutan

3. Push, Pull and Falling out: Determinant Factors of Drop-out in Technical Training Institutes in Bhutan

Author:
Sonam Wangmo and Sangay Tshewang
Publication Date:
11-2021
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal of Bhutan Studies
Institution:
Centre for Bhutan & GNH Studies (CBS)
Abstract:
This study determined the determinant pull, push and falling out factors that influenced students to drop out of Technical Training Institutes (TTIs). Institute was the agent for the push factor, while students themselves were agents for the pull factor. For the falling out factor, neither institute nor student was an agent, but the situations which are not in control of both. The study also further explored the dominant and the least prevalent factors that led the student to drop out from TTIs. The closed-ended dichotomous survey questionnaire was used for collecting data from drop-outs. Collected data were analyzed using the SPSS software package. The findings supported that pullout factors related to family played a prominent role in the complex sequence of events that factored into students’ decision to drop out. In contrast, falling out that encapsulated more of peer-related factors remained the most negligible prevalent factor. The result also pointed out that the accumulation of more than three individual factors caused students to drop out of TTIs. Furthermore, it was also evident from the outcome that poverty, lack of education and low social status of parents increased odds for a student to drop out.
Topic:
Education, Vocational Training, Students, and Dropout Prevention
Political Geography:
South Asia and Bhutan