History of Education in Bhutan

The history of education in Bhutan encompasses a transformation from a system based entirely on monastic instruction to a modern, secular educational framework that now includes primary, secondary, and tertiary institutions. For centuries, Buddhist monasteries served as the sole centres of learning in Bhutan. The establishment of the first modern school in 1914 marked the beginning of secular education, which expanded slowly under the monarchy and accelerated dramatically from the 1960s onward with the assistance of foreign educators, most notably the Canadian Jesuit priest Father William Mackey.^[1]

Monastic Education

Prior to the 20th century, education in Bhutan was exclusively the domain of Buddhist monastic institutions. Boys who entered the monastic system received instruction in reading and writing (primarily in Choekey, classical Tibetan), Buddhist philosophy, ritual practice, astrology, and medicine. The monastic schools served both religious and administrative functions, as literate monks were often called upon to serve in governance roles. Girls had no formal access to education. This monastic system continues to operate in parallel with secular education; the Central Monastic Body, headquartered at Tashichho Dzong in Thimphu, oversees religious education across the country.

Early Modern Schools (1914–1960)

The inception of modern secular education in Bhutan dates to 1914, when Ugyen Dorji, the agent of the first King, Ugyen Wangchuck, established a school in Haa District. Teachers from the Church of Scotland Mission in Kalimpong, India, provided instruction alongside a Bhutanese teacher. In the same year, 46 Bhutanese boys were sent to a mission school in Kalimpong to receive an English-medium education. These early initiatives were modest in scale and concentrated among the families of the aristocracy and officialdom.^[2]

Progress was slow during the first half of the 20th century. The country remained largely isolated, and the ruling establishment saw limited need for mass secular education. By the time the third King, Jigme Dorji Wangchuck, initiated systematic modernisation in the late 1950s, Bhutan still had only a handful of schools serving a tiny fraction of the population.

Father William Mackey and the Expansion of Schools (1963–1995)

A pivotal figure in Bhutan’s educational development was Father William Joseph Mackey (1915–1995), a Canadian Catholic priest and Jesuit educator. Mackey had been working as a teacher in Darjeeling, India, when he faced expulsion from India in 1963. King Jigme Dorji Wangchuck, learning of Mackey’s situation, invited him to establish schools in Bhutan as part of the country’s modernisation programme. Mackey accepted and arrived in October 1963, becoming the first Roman Catholic cleric permitted to reside in the officially Buddhist nation.^[3]

Mackey’s first school began in an abandoned cowshed in eastern Bhutan with seven students. Enrolment grew rapidly—to 70 the following year—and Mackey went on to establish the first three high schools in the country over the next two decades. His most enduring achievement was the founding of Sherubtse College in Kanglung, Trashigang District, which became Bhutan’s first institution of higher education and later its first accredited college. Mackey also recruited teachers from the Indian state of Kerala, whose educators played a significant role in staffing the growing school system.^[4]

In recognition of his contributions, Mackey received the Druk Thuksey (Son of Bhutan) medal in 1973 and was granted honorary Bhutanese citizenship in 1985. He died on 18 October 1995 in Thimphu; his obituary on Bhutanese national radio ran for 15 minutes.

The Modern Education System

Bhutan’s education system today is structured into primary (grades PP–VI), lower secondary (VII–VIII), middle secondary (IX–X), and higher secondary (XI–XII) levels, broadly following the Indian model. The government provides free education through grade X, and the system uses English as the primary medium of instruction, with Dzongkha taught as a compulsory subject. School enrolment has increased dramatically: from a few hundred students in the early 1960s to over 170,000 in the 2020s.

The Royal University of Bhutan (RUB), established by royal decree on 2 June 2003, consolidated existing tertiary institutions into a single decentralised university. It initially comprised seven existing colleges, including Sherubtse College, the National Institute of Education, and colleges of natural resources, science, and technology. RUB currently has nine constituent colleges and two affiliated colleges spread across the country.^[5]

Education Reform and the Bhutan Education Blueprint

In 2014, the Ministry of Education published the Bhutan Education Blueprint 2014–2024 (BEBP), a ten-year strategic plan developed through a broad consultative process. The BEBP identified eight “transformative shifts”: ensuring access and equity; revamping curriculum and assessment; raising learning outcomes to international standards; transforming teaching into a profession of choice; developing high-performing school leadership; leveraging information and communication technology; enhancing values education and wellbeing; and improving system efficiency.^[6]

More recent reform efforts have focused on curriculum alignment with international standards. The government announced plans to co-brand the Bhutan Higher Secondary Education Certificate (BHSEC) with Cambridge International, aiming for global recognition of Bhutanese secondary qualifications. Teacher training, assessment reform, and the integration of Gross National Happiness values into the curriculum remain ongoing priorities.

Challenges

Despite significant progress, Bhutan’s education system faces several persistent challenges. Youth unemployment remains high among graduates, suggesting a mismatch between educational outcomes and labour market needs. Rural schools continue to struggle with teacher retention, infrastructure deficits, and lower learning outcomes compared to urban centres. The quality of tertiary education has been questioned, with some students opting to study abroad in India, Thailand, or Australia. The Asian Development Bank approved a USD 35 million grant in 2023 to support skills development reform in Bhutan, reflecting the urgency of aligning education with economic needs.