The Bhutanese Leading the way.
The education minister, Lyonpo Jai Bir Rai said that starting this academic session , the students who’ll manage to pass class ten examinations will get the opportunity to study in class eleven without having to worry about the cut-off points.
Lyonpo Jai Bir Rai said the decision was taken after having numerous discussions and was based on extensive study by the expertise in the field.
In response to the much talked about deterioration in the quality of education in absence of a benchmark to qualify for class eleven, Lyonpo J.B Rai said the quality of education is not determined by the cut-off points. “Quality of education is determined by the minimum pass percentage kept by the government. Cut-off point is determined based on the absorption capacity of the government school and not by the quality of education.”
Citing an example, he said that if maximum students score below average, the government has to lower the cutoff point to get the required number of student intake in the government school which can be applied the other way round if maximum numbers of students score very high marks.
Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) is another plan of the government to absorb some of the students after class ten starting from 2020 academic session. For this year’s academic session, the government will try to absorb as many students in government school while rest will be adjusted in private schools with the support from the government. “The discussion is still ongoing on the absorption of students but the preference to choose the school will mostly depend on their performance.”
Lyonpo JB Rai said, “Unlike the government schools, private schools have more absorption capacity, yet we see some of the schools closing after incurring loss due to less number of students, while on the other hand, there are plenty of class ten dropouts.” He added that this unbalanced equilibrium needs to be questioned.
“So we can see that the idea of government to let the private schools absorb the remaining students is a win-win situation for all. All the students will get equal opportunities to study and the government gains more educated youths and private schools can sustain their business.”
Lyonpo J.B Rai during the recent question and hour session in parliament also said the bold decision from the education ministry came after repeated discussion. “This was my biggest concern since the day I joined as the education minister.” He said while the country is transitioning as a developing country, development in education system is also important.
He said the main reason for keeping the cutoff point was due to lack of adequate number of teachers, student’s capacity and infrastructure. “This was not because the students were not capable to be promoted in class eleven.”
Education minister said that currently, the preparation and study on implementation is going on.
Though it is a good to hear all the class 10 will have equal opportunity to attend the higher classes,but it will also lead to contenment. Hard workers, will be equally rewarded with the lethargical pupil.