The induction session for the National Executive Members, G17 UAC Bhutan, shall be remembered as another remarkable event of my life. The introduction to 'The Roads to Rights' was an extraordinary story of an eight-year boy thinking about bringing changes in the community. Meeting, & getting to know other National Executive Members was exciting. Above all, listening to the founder, Mr. Ashan Perera's speech was the most amazing moment. 

Virtual, yet it was a well-organized session coordinated by Ms.Yeshi, vice-chairperson G17 UAC Bhutan, bringing alike minded individuals together, striving to actualize the global goals, 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). 

The session sowed a lot of curiosity in me. Although it was just an introductory session about the mentor-mentee program which was born from the Bhutan Baccalaureate curriculum (His Majesty's concept of the education system), it has made me think about the following points as a future educator. 

•  The Role Shift: Just by going through the guidelines of the program, & with some knowledge of the Bhutan Baccalaureate, in the future, the typical notion of 'a teacher knows everything' would come to end. An Educator would become the facilitator, & a learner with other learners. That implies that a student can also be a teacher to peers, & possibly to the teachers as well. 
• The Openness of Curriculum: Writing backstories, understanding selves, & writing roadmaps is the indication of finding our innate potential. If the same is to be practiced in the schools, the curriculum should not restrict various learners from discovering their potential. Thus, the curriculum must be open, & flexible. 
• Replace Theoretical Lectures with Practical  Skill Developments: After discovering the potential, hands-on skill-developing programs would follow, & make competent learners. 

I am surrounded by loving people that many people could just dream of. A meal becomes more enjoyable when we have it with the loved ones. It tastes even better when they pay for it. Lol 😆

Thanks, Dorji. 

Leave a comment, if you want to sponsor the next meal 

I am sorry if I sound unappreciative, but I think this signboard should be removed or changed. I was wondering, what if an illiterate group of pilgrims happens to pass by? Won't this be mistaken for drubchu (holy-water)? This is a possibility that can not be denied as the entire population of our country is not literate. 😬

Found this on the way to Taktshang.

*small things matter*

Book Drive is one of my initiatives in Samtse College of Education launched on 4th October 2021 with an objective to promote and encourage reading in students and staff through sharing of books and making reading resources more accessible to reading enthusiasts. The initiative was able to launch successfully with generous support from the president of the college (Dr.Rinchen Dorji) who is also an advisor of DEAR (Drop Everything And Read) programme, JK furniture house, DEAR programme members, college librarians, and everyone in the college. The  Book Drive happens in the following two modes: 

12/04/2022 (PC: Lhakpa Tshering)

Picture during the launch (from left): President of Samtse College of Education (Dr. Rinchen Dorji), myself (Nidup Jamtsho), & the proprietor of JK furniture ( Mr. Kezang Jigme)

Picture during the launch: DEAR programme members, & other people who came for the launch 

I would like to share a brief profile of Rigzin Consultancy, for your information. 

Objectives:

Realizing the government’s noble vision of recruiting multi-skilled and competent civil servants through the conduct of competitive exams by the RCSC; we initiated the first BCSE (RCSE) coaching program in the country in 2011, to participate as a humble contributor in the national Human Resource Development. 

Our Professional Team of Tutors:

Consist of university graduates who have exhibited scholarly achievements in their undergraduate degree and their subsequent engagement with the BCSE course program organized by our coaching center has positioned themselves as overall national toppers, super-achievers, and record setters in the various BCSE category;

As a token of their successes, they have voluntarily joined our coaching center as professionalized tutors to sustain the ever-growing reputation of our consultancy and to translate the similar results of meritocracy to the upcoming graduates;

Our team of experts is secured with a high level of enthusiasm, competency, dynamism, dedication, and academic perspectives, with experiences ranging from five to sixteen years. 

Our Course Books and Materials

Course Books and Materials are developed through exhaustive research by respective subject specialists considering the pattern of questions asked in past BCSE, consistently updated annually, and incorporate feedback as suggested by BCSE super-achievers and tutors;

The outreach of our course books and materials is extensive as it is referred by most BCSE aspirants, including non-course takers passed from senior to junior graduates or from elder to younger siblings. The reachability to maximum graduates portrays its usefulness and benefits. 

In the interest of our course takers, we print limited copies of updated course books (just sufficient) to be issued free of cost to our course takers only as supplementary resources to guide their missed topics during the classroom-based sessions.  

Our Commitments

We undertake the BCSE coaching program with the greatest commitment by paying special attention to graduates facing difficulty in either of the four components of P.E. (for instance, we concentrate on graduates requiring special needs in Math, Dzongkha, or English component owing to the non-inclusivity of the said subjects during the undergraduate program). We also emphasize those fast learners to enhance their intellectual abilities further. The close observations, extended hours of teaching, and one-on-one sessions are the preferred mode of sessional delivery that makes our coaching program, distinctively unique and assistive. 

To equip our course takers with adequate practical skills, we organize time-observed and RCSC rules bounded ‘Mock Preliminary Examination’ through the application of the OMR Sheet, a session on procedural conduct, and follow-up feedback for need-based improvements. 

These facilities are provided without any additional fee. 

Our achievements (2011 to 2020)

With the joint efforts of tutors, management, and graduates; the course takers of the center have secured commendable results in three consecutive years (2018-2020) as under:

2020: Whole Bhutan Toppers (08) and Other Category Toppers (26). Total (34);

2019: Whole Bhutan Toppers (07) and Other Category Toppers (28). Total (35);

2018: Whole Bhutan Toppers (10) and Other Category Toppers (36). Total (46);

The records from 2012- to 2020 reveal the following achievements:

National Overall Toppers: 9 (2012- 2020);

Qualified to RIM (PGDPA, PGFM, and PGDNL): 40-50% annually; 

Qualified B.Ed. Graduates (2016-2020): 85-95% annually;

Qualified to PCE and SCE (PGDE): 75-85% annually. 

Qualifier for Technical Category: 50-60% annually. 

Total Graduates (2012-2020) passed from this center: over 11,000;

Managing Team 

To ensure smooth and efficient operation of daily coaching sessions, we have a proactive management team, that is customer-friendly with experience in responding to changing dynamics of the situation and in preparing customized/flexible teaching-learning schedules through systemic coordination between the subject tutors and group coordinators. 

In addition, the management team has undergone “COVID-19 Safety and Health Protocol Training” in 2020 (organized by MoH and MoLHR) which enabled them to organize a coaching program following COVD-19 protocols and guidance. The classrooms are equipped with sanitizers and thermometers so that COVID-19 requirements and social distancing mandates have been fully adhered to. The welfare and safety of our course takers are our utmost priority.

The core team members of the management team hold a Master’s Degree in Buddhist Philosophy with experiences in serving various capacities as consultants, resource persons, curriculum developers, researchers, and lecturers for nine years and have produced proficient research books and papers. 

To assure the quality surveillance of day-to-day programming during Coaching Session; I, as the overall Program Director, would be constantly monitoring and supervising by spearheading consultative meetings and feedback sessions with the tutors and the graduates.  

Mr. Rinzin Dorji, 

Founding Director.

This was the most awaited & exalted trip to Taktshang (tiger lair) with friends. Writing the entire history or legend of Taktshang by an ordinary person like me would just lead to distortion of the precious story. I have read through a few articles online, & listened to the verbal narrations. 

Of the slightest deviations in the legend shared on different papers, & narrated by different persons, a source says that the name Taktshang (tiger lair) was derived after the incident of Guru Rinpochoe in the form of Guru Dorji Drolo (riding on a tigress) flew from Singye Dzong to the cliff where Taktshang is situated now. 

As a first-time visitor, I found myself admiring, & appreciating the extraordinary architecture glued on the endless cliff. The blessings were more than wished to have gotten a chance to pray in front of the Guru Suungjoen statue, & many other sacred sites for the well-being of the sentient beings.