My school

In the beginning, it was just a piece of land.  Soon it became Zhemgang Pry School. Then Zhemgang High School.  And now, autonomous cum central school. Ever since its inception in 1958, the school has unfailingly served as pinnacle of learning for khengrig namsum region and produced sublime souls from all walks of life.  

It is almost 7 or 8 months passed since the dawn of school autonomy. However, many are still bewildered, and few even draw parallel between autonomous, private schools and colleges. Let alone someone outside education fraternity, even I was baffled initially.

Well, the difference is only in terms of human resourcing and finance. Now with the grant of school autonomy, the school is vested with authority to retain and remove (transfer) teachers. Retain- if duties are dispatched unconditionally. Remove- if fundamental duties are compromised. However, the intention is not to pick at flaws but to bring in the best and take schools to the forefront of learning.

At the budget level, unlike the past years, the school need not remit the unexpended funds to the ministry. The school can save the money and carry it over to next fiscal year. Moreover, the monthly remuneration, to which many draw analogy with private schools, are also disbursed by the school,

So, many are of view that autonomous schools are delinked from MoE or concerned district education office.

As meek as it sounds, regardless of private or government, no school in Bhutan operates without its parent agency except colleges which are under different agency. Thus, autonomous school is no private and it’s neither delinked from MoE nor Dzongkhag education office as the directives would always emanate from the two. It is just that the financial and human resource muscle is conferred more to schools.

Since the concept of school autonomy is remarkably recent, only 19 schools are piloted for just five years. If, after five years, the test yield good result, it would be extended to other schools too.

The next revolution that my school saw this year was the implementation of central school. Certainly, it is a boon for students and parents hailing from far flung places, for many things come to them without having to pay. But at the end, students failing to handover school properties would ensue in deduction of money.

On the contrary, day scholars are deprived of the free school uniform and sportswear. Honorable education minister during his recent visit said that since boarders are 24x7 times confined to school norms and to compensate the stringency, the facilities were made more accessible to curtail them from moving out as day scholar.

Moreover, to house burgeoning number of students, few more buildings are yet to come up in a month or two.

Now, we are already classes seven to twelve. Hence, consolidating location A and B, we are Zhemgang Central School with school population amounting nearly to 1100. Besides, other things like its strategic location and accessibility from different regions of the place were also considered.

Lyonpo, in his concluding remark, wished us luck and reiterated the words of His majesty the king- “you can’t give what you don’t have”.

Track suit for students

If you are new in Zhemgang and you come across swarm of students clad in blue track suit with arched label at the back, don’t be stunned. They belong to Zhemgang Higher Secondary School.

The latest change in my school is the adoption of trek suit after several months of desperate wait. Actually the demand was made earlier but since the order was in bulk, the supply turned up bit late than the anticipated time.

Nevertheless, now that we have received the trek suit, students as well as teachers are equally staggered.

posing moment

However, students are bemused as to when they should don the suit. The school administration has stringently stipulated the conditions and arrived at consensus that it should not be entertained during instructional hours.

first day, 12 d

The crux behind coming up with such new change is to have uniformity, especially in co-curricular activities and during regional and national sports meet. Besides, students can also cut down the usage of their school uniform and wear it during outing and working time. 

Of change and controversies

With the reopening of new academic session, our school has instigated many new changes and progresses, unexpectedly to which few of our parents are already talking ill of. Comments are floating in against the improved system and some even dare to point fingers to the big strides achieved. However, many farsighted parents remain optimistic about the changes.

School is one key institution where countless lives are transformed forever. Because of this simple inevitable fact, it becomes indispensible for the institution to have set of detailed framework that eventually will serve as the stairway to success. And to achieve the feat is to comply with norms of the school faithfully and undeniably because the essence of good education is entwined in discipline.

Every schools of our country believe in establishing precedence over discipline than to merely pass the exam with good marks. Ultimately, the prime motive behind education is to give birth to good human beings furnished with essential values and ethics.

It is also the main spine that steers the learner in right direction. Parents have the greater role in laying this foundation as well, because a child who lacks discipline at home finds it difficult to deal with the ordered environment of the school. Perhaps, they can drill better than what teachers do in the school.

However, many of our parents are circled around the myth that the school is only place to inject discipline and that teachers are accountable for. Teachers and parents have equal contributions and share common responsibilities in shaping the Childs future. Collaboratively, we can usher in the best and embrace the least trodden paths constructively when they have to stroll alone.

But eavesdropping on some resentment, few are of opinion that the school is going stringent and bringing in various alien changes. One such particular grumble was that of seeking admissions.

Intakes for students from same district are given first preferences while others are based on first come first serve basis. If the admission is sought after the closure, regardless of what the matter is, the school doesn’t entertain any case thereafter except for students whose parents are on transfer case.

Meanwhile with the burgeoning population of the students, it is also mounting pressures and, likewise, demanding challenges. If school insists to live by strings of lenient rules and fail to abide by explicit guidelines, what more can be anticipated than to consistently remain at stake.

Also if we intend to propagate with unrefined system, chances are certain that we might fail to battle the growing pressures and challenges as time plods by.

While we strive for excellence, and that, whenever there is need for betterment of an institution, we supplicate our valued parents to kindly cooperate. Whatever is pioneered and adopted by the school is not solo decision; a lot of heads come together, brainstorm and arrives to a final consensus before it is put in place.

Notwithstanding some spiteful pleasure, I hope that the school will cruise gracefully through the switchbacks in accomplishing its motto “ALWAYS MOVING FORWARD”