The Bhutanese Leading the way.
The Ministry of Education and Skills Development (MoESD) has found that there are a total of 537 excess teachers spread across 20 Dzongkhags after a Teacher Requirement Exercise.
The highest number of excess teachers are 265 Dzongkha teachers in 20 Dzongkhags with the most excess in Thimphu Throm and Paro Dzongkhag.
The next biggest excess teachers are 125 English teachers in 19 Dzongkhags with the highest numbers in Thimphu Throm and Trashigang. However, there is a shortage in Zhemgang Dzongkhag.
There is then an excess of 57 General Teachers with the most being in Thimphu Throm and Paro and a shortage in Dagana and Samdrupjongkhar Dzongkhags. General teachers are those who teach in the primary section at class 6 and below.
There is then an excess of 50 Biology teachers in all Dzongkhags with the most in Thimphu Throm.
There are 41 excess Chemistry teachers with the most in Thimphu Throm but the rest are evenly distributed. There is a shortage in Trongsa and Zhemgang.
In subjects like Math, IT, History, Geography, Physics, Science, Economics, Commerce, Accounts, and Counselor, it is not an issue.
There is a shortage of Physics teachers in Bumthang though.
The biggest shortage is in Special Education Needs (SEN) which has a massive shortage of 144 SEN teachers across all 20 Dzongkhags.
A MoESD official said the above numbers are the latest but could undergo changes as they have more discussions with Dzongkhags and Thromdes and as the Cambridge Curriculum comes into play.
Dzongkhags and Thromdes have the authority to redeploy within their areas and for cross Dzongkhags transfers the MoESD will facilitate it.
The MoESD is likely to ask for volunteers in case of such transfers.
To bring down the number of excess teachers the MoESD said contract teacher contracts are not being renewed.
Bhutan has 10,053 teachers of which around 1,800 are on contract.
In 2025 alone around 1,080 contracts are coming to an end.
The MoESD is hopeful that this will help resolve the issue to a large extent.
The 57 general excess teachers could be chosen for HPE subjects.
It is also hoping to reskill and upskill teachers but this will also depend on a minimum eligibility criteria like IT, Math etc for ICT and relevant subjects.
The ongoing curriculum alignment is also expected to shift teacher requirements, especially in primary Science and Technology, and in secondary-level Health and Physical Education, Digital Technology, and Innovation.
Excess teachers will be reskilled and placed in these areas too.
