Education

Early Education System

Modern education in Bhutan started very late. Before its inception, monastic education was the only form of education in Bhutan. Although informal religious discourses were held since Buddhism started in Bhutan, formal monastic education started only in 1622 with the establishment of the formal monk body at Chari in Thimphu. Young monks came to learn from their masters. They learnt religious scripts memorizing verse after verse. Understanding the verses wasn’t a priority until they attained higher levels. The main aim of religious education was for the spiritual development of a person .

Until the 1950s, the only formal education available to Bhutanese students, except for private schools in Ha and Bumthang, was through Buddhist monasteries.Western-style education was introduced to Bhutan during the reign of Ugyen Wangchuck.In the 1950s, several private secular schools were established without government support, and several others were established in major district towns with government backing. By the late 1950s, there were twenty-nine government and thirty private primary schools, but only about 2,500 children were enrolled.Meanwhile, the country had begun to plan its developmental activities for five years and the first five year development plan (1961-1966) had already been launched. The successive five year plans brought tremendous progress in education and by 1988 the number of schools increased form meager 59 in 1961 to 193 in 1989.