Bhutan

Context and needs: In the sixties, creating a modern education system was one of the key priorities in the Bhutanese government’s concept of Gross National Happiness. The aim was for 95% of children to be in school by 2007. When the SDC and Helvetas began supporting Bhutan in 1987, half of all children were already attending the country’s some 190 schools. However, there were still several challenges to be faced, such as the shortage of Bhutanese teachers (about a quarter of all teachers in 1993 were not Bhutanese) and the paucity of skills to train teachers at both the primary and secondary levels.

From 1989 to 2008, the SDC and Helvetas supported the Bhutanese government and put in place various projects. Assistance was provided at various levels, with the aim of promoting both access to education and the quality of basic education. This was done by training teachers, improving teaching supports and building schools. The Support for Teacher Education Programme (STEP), for example, aimed to improve the curricula of Bhutan’s national institutes of education. At the government’s request, Helvetas also worked to renovate and expand the colleges of education in Paro and Samtse until June 2009. This was in response to growing demand from teachers wishing to receive training. Part of the project involved equipping the colleges with new technology. Bhutan is now well on its way to achieving Millennium Development Goals 2 and 3.

Resources: Over the past 20 years, Switzerland has contributed CHF 33.8 million (including CHF 16 million for construction projects) to Bhutan. This is approximately 6% of Bhutan’s education budget, making Switzerland one of the major donors to basic education in Bhutan (behind the World Bank, India and Denmark).

Achievements so far:

  • access to basic education has been improved thanks to the construction of new schools and the expansion of existing ones (between 1989 and 2003, 6,000 of the 84,861 school-going children went to schools built using Swiss funds).
  • gender equality in basic education has almost been achieved (the proportion of girls in schools went from 42.1% in 1993 to 49.7% in 2008).
  • standardised plans that encourage child learning are successfully used for all new schools built by the Ministry of Education.
  • teaching materials to ensure good quality teaching and learning is available in each school, and the Ministry of Education provides schools with an annual budget for library books.
  • education-related administrative services have been improved at the central and local levels and within schools (for example, the Ministry of Education now has a more efficient and effective management process, and deans and headmasters receive better training, which means improved school management).
  • there has been a large impact on national education policy and legislation (for example, a continuing-training system has been put in place for teachers; a multigrade teaching system has been introduced in remote schools; a new evaluation system has been put in place for students; the curricula for basic education have been improved; and the importance of guiding and advising young people has been recognised as an official role);
  • the training infrastructure for teachers has been improved (room for another 500 teachers, in addition to the existing capacity of 1,000, was created using Swiss funds);
  • teachers receive better training thanks to modernised curricula and methods, and a greater number of teachers have received a higher education (56% of teachers now have a bachelor’s or master’s degree);the number of teachers in basic education has tripled (from 2,084 in 1993 to 5,745 in 2008) and there is a larger proportion of Bhutanese primary-school teachers (up from 76% in 1993 to 99% in 2008).

    Partners: Helvetas, Ministry of Education of the Government of Bhutan

    Documents and further information:

    • Impact Assessment of SDC/Helvetas Basic Education Projects in Bhutan
    June 2009
    Author: Priska Sieber
    This study was conducted on behalf of Helvetas, Swiss Association for International Cooperation. It aims at establishing evidence on the effects of the projects (1)on pupils in primary and secondary schools,(2)on teacher education and training and(3)on the national sector and system. It extracts lessons learnt for future steering and design of new project (organisational learning).
    Download (PDF, 1140 KB): [en]  

    Basic Education in Bhutan: Partnership results
    July 2009
    Author: SDC - East Asia Division
    The Bhutan-Swiss Partnership aimed at assisting the Royal Government of Bhutan in its endeavour to enhance access and quality of basic education and thus social and economic development of the country. This Asia Brief informs about the key results of an over 20 years SDC/Helvetas engagement. Switzerland belonged to the most important donors in basic education in Bhutan in terms of financial contribution.
    Download (PDF, 1155 KB): [en]  
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