India to test professional standard of Bhutanese teachers

Thimphu, February 17, 2009: Military training for army, police and royal body guards are held in India. Until recently, education system was controlled from Delhi and other regional boards. Still, a glaring instance has surfaced where India controls internal matter of Bhutan.

The education department set an examination for primary teachers. Around 2,000 teachers in 22 centers across the country sat for written test and these answer sheets are set to be evaluated in Ahmadabad, India to assess their skills.

Education ministry said appropriate professional programs and training facilities will be designed after the assessment of the exams taken in subjects such as Language, Mathematics and Environmental Science.

The teachers seemed to have faced tough time answering so many questions and complained they are no to the standard they are teaching. Did they answer teachers need to have higher qualification that student they teach? No. 

“The ‘Teacher Needs Assessment’ is an effort toward identifying areas of strength and weaknesses of our teaching community to enable mounting of professional development services,” education minister Thakur Singh Powdyel says.

Government plans similar tests for teachers from higher classes by next year.