Democracy at Work in School

For the First time in Bajothang the selection of captain goes truly democratic. This Election of Captains in school is the initiative of School Democracy Club headed by Ms. Sangay Lhaden and Chaired by Principal Shangkar Lal.
The event became very popular among the students, which is evident from the trending on social media. There was overwhelming activity on our Facebook Page where the pictures of naminees were posted. And the event is reported by four Students bloggers:

"Today’s election was like the real election as all the e-voting machines were there, polling stations and polling officers were also there. All the stations was arranged in the MPH, students were voting with their full confidences as during the morning, Lopen Tshering Gyeltshen showed us demo on how to use e-voting machines. "- Wrote Dhan Bdr on his Blog "Dhan's Ultrabook" It's his second post on the election on Bajothang, where his is also a nominee.

Another Student Blogger, Chidanand blogs in his "Teenager+":

One of the best event in the history of bajothang higher secondary school. Election of captains for next year from the nominates made by the class teacher and subject teacher of class 11 Sci and Commerce. It was sometimes ago when the nominates were asked to come and take the photo so that it will be pasted in the electronic voting machine. Though the same event was held some years ago there was no such facilities like electronic voting machine. Rather students were asked to raise their hand and from their captains were elected.

Deepan Tamang, another student blogger finds the event as:

This is my 4^th year studying in Bajothang higher secondary school. There are some changes that I have observed. Most of the changes are minor. This is the major change that I have observed and is one of the best. ( in his blog "The Real World")

Sonam in his blog "Trending BajoWide"  wrote:

Bajothang higher secondary school conducted election for captains for next year. Nominee are from class elevens where there were 18 boys and 13 girls. Students were briefed in the morning and around 12 pm students lead by 12 to 7 started casting their votes to the most deserving and capable candidate. It took around 3 hours for the completion. This is the first time conducting such a program for selection of captains. The school conducted such a program in order to not to have any problems in future regarding the selection of captains. Thanks to democracy club and Bajothang higher secondary school.

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School Clarifies on CE Complaint Letter on Public Forum

It has come to school's notice that certain 'Memehele, undoubtedly our own CE Arts student coming from Punakha, has posted 4 points complaint letter on Kuensel Forum. It's totally unexpected and sad to see that the student despite having clear understanding of the CE policy in school and the problems faced by the school in keeping the program going, chose to defame the school in public. School though not mandated to pay any attention to such baseless allegations would still like to provide detailed explanation so that it doesn't mislead the concerned stakeholders.

Following is the complain copied from Kuensel Forum"

I have many questions regarding the CE programmes in Bajo HSS.1. Is there any directive from MoE to collect extra Nu. 5000 as the security deposit. Where will this amount go if I happened to miss the examination due unavoidable circumstances.2. Is there any directive from MoE to collect the fee in lump sum.3. Are the CE tutors competent enough to teach all the classes. School Counselor was made to teach XII Arts where he is not allowed to teach.4. History was taught by as many as 3 teachers. Many repeaters of 2011 and 2012 are enrolled and this causes a nuisance to the genuine CE candidates.So I would suggest the concern Authority to provide a quality qualitative education than making money.Or make Punakha HSS or Ugyen Academy to introduce it. This will improve the quality of CE programme in Wangdue- Punakha valley.It is evident from the above that CE in Bajo is just doing for name sake. It seems there is no planning and coordination. Some times tutors never turn up on time. and have to go back without classes after commuting as far as Punakha and Lobesa.

Continuing Education(CE) Program in Bajothang has been a big success for over three year, with many civil servants and school dropouts finally grasping their second chance to Education. Many of them have done very well and are now in colleges across the country and abroad. Inspired by the Changes we brought to the lives of so many people, school tried to keep the program going despite huge implications on school facilities and human resources that goes in it. If Bajothang is proud of CE program it's only because of the positive feedback from our ex CE students.

But this year we are saddened by letter an adult student wrote on public forum questioning the integrity of the school and the people involved in it. We would like to provide the following explanation, though it should have been understood without having to say;

1. The Nu.5000 security deposit is introduced this year to counter the huge number of CE students dropping out of exam at the end of the year. This had direct implication on the school's overall result because CE students are treated as our students by BCSEA and absentees are calculated as 'fail' against the school's name. However, the money is refundable and will be promptly given back on the last day of the exam. School will also consider the genuine cases of students dropping out due to unavoidable circumstances. 

2. The Fee is collected in lump sum to ensure that students are committed to full year schooling and to avoid dropout cases in the middle, which the school has bitter experience. School is still waiting for many students who dropped out last year to return their textbook. The solutions for problem the school faces will not come from elsewhere.

3. Because school doesn't have Arts stream with its regular students we do not have enough teachers to teach arts subjects. School therefore decided to do away with Arts stream in CE as well but many CE students came forward to request the school to retain the stream. School hired history teacher from Punakha to solve the problem but because of his health he had to withdraw, after which school requested the school counselor. He is a very experienced teacher and had been teacher from seven years before becoming school counselor. 

4. As much as the writer of the complaint letter considers him/herself as genuine CE students the rest of the students who are repeating are genuine too. They also want to continue their education and school has admitted them based on the admission rules. Such selfishness makes the whole purpose of coming to school useless.

CE program is not a money making business at all, with an annual fee of just Nu.10,000 it's the biggest opportunity to education, when elsewhere in private schools the fee is not less than Nu.50,000. The program is one big extra responsibility taken by Bajothang HSS, and given the chance school would happily give it up for any school wishing to take up. It's not compulsory for any teacher to teach CE classes but school administration requested to work for this great cause, given the chance many teachers would choose family time and rest over the money they get from the program.

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Alumni List Updated

Dr. Sangay Dorji, MO, Mongar

We are pleased to release the updated list of our Alumni today. The school lost all its documents in 2011 Fire and since then we were trying to gather lots of information, of which Alumni List is considered one very important project. We are proud to see good response on our website's Alumni Tracking form. And Very happy to see so many of you doing great in Life!

Full List can be viewed >>Here>>



Following are the new entries:

Name	Year of graduation	Current Occupation	Address	Dzongkhag
Gyembo	2008	Staff Nurse	Monggar	Monggar
Dr. Yoenten Phuentshok	2005	Veterinarian	Thimphu	Thimphu
Dr Sangay Dorji	2001	medical officer	Eastern Regional Referral Hospital	Monggar
Gopal Prasad Khanal	2006	Livestock Production Officer	National Centre for Aquaculture,	Sarpang
Thinley Wangchuk	2008	Forestery	Wangdue	Wangdue
Sonam Phuntsho	2007	Engineer	DHI-INFRA Limited	Thimphu
Sanjit Kumar	2010	B.E Civil Engineering (student)	CST	Chukha
Sonam Dorji	2009	RIM trainee (DIMS) & Guide	Semtokha	Thimphu
Nado	2005	Engineer (Electrical)	Mangdechhu HE project Authority	Trongsa
Lhapchu	2004	Engineer	Bajo	Wangdue
Sonam Choki	2004	lawyer	Office of the Prime Minister/ Cabinet	Thimphu
Rattu	2006	Teacher	Tsirangtoe LSS	Tsirang
Ganga Ram Giri	2006	Engineer	Punatshangchu	Wangdue
Parasha Bhandari	2006	Asst. Branch Manager	BDBL, Bumthang	Bumthang
Tilachand Timsina	2006	Architect	MoWHS,DHS,UPDD	Thimphu
Jamtsho	2008	BCom (Finance) at GCBS	Geaddu	Chukha
Manoj Kumar Rai	2004	Operations Lead at Google / Google Consultant for Bhutan	Thimphu	Thimphu
Rohit Gajmer	2006	ICT Officer / Trainer	IMS	Thimphu
Kamala Subba	2009	Contract surveyor	Thimphu City	Thimphu
Sunil Lama	2008	BE CIVIL ENGINEER (std)	Tamil Nadu	India
Sonam Yangdon	2011	Journalism (std)	India	India

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Think. Eat. Save.- World Environment Day Speech by Bir Bdr.

June 5, 2013, School Assembly Square:

Our environment is the future of our world. If it is not healthy, then we cannot think of taking a breath of peace.

·         Objectives of the world environment day celebration :

Bir Bahadhur of class 12 Sci, Nature Club 

World environment day is the main weapon of the United Nation to make people aware of the worldwide environmental demolition and drag attention and action of various political sources and human resource.

·         How would environment day be Celebrated ?

World environment day is celebrated each year through various means like:

ü  Green concerts.

ü  Essay and poster competitions in school.

ü  Tree planting.

ü  Clean-up campaign and much more.

In line with this we the Family of Bajo Higher Secondary School are going to carry out a cleaning campaign in and around the Bajo town with the concept of 3R’s.

Today is celebrated as world environment day and is a day that stimulates awareness of the environment and enhances political attention and public action. It is an annual event that is aimed at being the biggest and most widely celebrated global day for positive environmental action.

June 5^th was the day that United Nations conference on the human environment began in 1972. The United Nation Conference on the Human Environment was from 5^th until 16^th June 1972. It was established by the United Nations General Assembly in the same year.

The first world environment day was celebrated in 1973. World environment day is hosted every year and is commemorated with an international exposition in the week of 5^th June.

A green economic is one that results in improved human well-being and social equity, while significantly reducing environmental risks and ecological green economy is the economic development model based on sustainable development and a knowledge of ecological economics.

Think. Eat . Save is an anti-food waste and food loss campaign that encourages you to reduce your footprint.

According to the UN Food and Agricultural Organization, every year 1.3 billion tonnes of food is wasted.This is equivalent to the same amount produce in the whole of Sub-Saharan Africa. At the same time ,one in every seven people in the world go to bed hungry and more than 20,000 childrens  under the age of 5 die daily from hunger.

Given this enormous imbalance in lifestyle’s and the resultant devastating effects on the  environment, this year’s  theme-Think .Eat.Save -encourages you to become more aware of the environmental impact of the food choices you make and empowers you to make informed decisions.

While the planet is struggling to provide us with enough resources to sustain the well beings of the people, Food and Agricultural Organization estimates that a third of global food production is either wasted or lost. Food waste is an enormous drain on natural resources and a contributor to negative environmental   impacts.

Similar to this highlight, in our school we see many people wasting their food and throwing anywhere which ultimately litters the beautiful scenario of our school. The best thing would be to bring packed lunch that you can eat at once, whereby no left over means you are being faithful to adopt the litter free principle.

This year’s campaign rallies you to take action from your home and then witness the power of collective decisions you and others have made to reduce food waste, save money, minimise the environmental impact of food production and force food production processes to become more efficient.

If food is wasted, it means that all the resources and inputs used in the production of all the food are also lost.

Making informed decisions therefore means, for example, that you purposefully select foods that have less of an environment impact, such as organic foods that do not use chemicals in the production process. Choosing to buy locally can also mean that foods are not thrown half way across the world and therefore limit emissions.

Lastly but not the least we hope that you all will join hands with us in taking mass and collective measure towards the safe and green world. So Think before you Eat and help Save our environment!

Thank you one and all for your kind attention.

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21 Gold for Team Bajothang

The team Bajothang led by Lop Tshering Gyeltshen and Ms. Sangay Lhaden that represented our school in Secondary Schools Sports Meet in Gaselo did us proud with 21 Gold, 9 Silver and 8 Bronze in Track and Field Events. They also brought home  Boys Winners Football Cupand Girls Basketball Runners Up Cup.

The Golden Team

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Sherig Collection in Bajothang Book Fair

From: Thimphutech.com

We just returned from two days at the Bajothang HSS book fair, where we displayed and distributed the Rigsum Sherig Collection to many schools outside of Thimphu: School principals, librarians, teachers and staff from eight Dzongkhags visited the Rigsum Sherig Collection tent (Dagana, Gasa, Paro, Punakha, Thimphu, Trongsa, Tsirang, and Wangdue).

Teacher from remote Lungtengang PS downloads the collection

Lots of interest from principals, teachers, and students

Teachers were eager to gain access to quality offline learning resources. Many have told us that the Internet connection at their school was more in theory than in practice (we learned that 3am-6am was the only time to attempt sending an email). Other schools were so remote that even mobile reception was insufficient. For teachers and students in such schools, the Sherig Collection was perceived as a life-changer. At last, teachers and students will have access to encyclopedias that do not cost a fortune and do not need to be kept locked behind glass doors. Khan Academy videos in maths and sciences will provide teachers with new ways of teaching existing materials, and for students, ways to strengthen their knowledge and expand it, while keeping their curiosity healthy.

Nearly all schools that visited our tent reported having computers for students to access. A few schools have only 1-2 computers for students, whereas many others have a computer lab. School computers range from old models to newer ones, from those with Windows XP to those with Windows 7. Some visitors were surprised to learn that the Sherig Collection will work on even old computers running Windows XP.

Many of the teachers and principals who visited had an external hard-drive or a laptop with them. They were therefore able to copy the Sherig Collection (approximately 25 min), and take it back to their schools.

Gasa PS principal (left) and Bajo HSS IT teacher (middle)

An additional benefit is that these Sherig-Collection-holding-schools now serve as contact points for nearby schools. For example, the principal of Gasa Primary School, Mr. Pema Dorji, will be distributing the software to all four schools in Gasa. Mr. Passang Tshering at Bajothang HSS has been distributing the Sherig Collection to many schools in the Wangdue-Punakha area, as well as assisting fellow teachers with ideas and tips about using the collection.

Our display was also visited by several officers from the Ministry of Education's Department of Curriculum Research and Development. They too now have the collection and will serve as a distribution point for schools in Paro. Executive director of the Bhutan Canada Foundation along with a Canadian teacher have expressed much interest - we hope that they can help spread the collection to schools with BCF teachers.

The Sherig Collection can be used in many ways. Students can be instructed to conduct research on a particular topic during the weekly IT session. A staff room computer can help teachers improve their lesson plans. One of the early adopting teachers of the Sherig Collection shared that he uses a projector to show students a Khan Academy video during class.

DCRD Director getting a tour of the Sherig Collection

It was a busy two days, with plenty of visitors, demos, downloading, and interactions. We have also collected wish lists for further improving the collection.

Educators who missed the Bajo fair and the earlier information session in Thimphu are welcome to visit us at the Rigsum Research Lab and obtain the collection.

The Facebook group, intended for sharing information and experiences, already has over 100 members, including teachers, principals and other education/knowledge seekers. The group is fairly active and we invite teachers, librarians, principals, curriculum developers and anyone interested in getting their school or organization on board.

We extend our many thanks to Bajo teacher Mr. Passang Tshering for organizing the Sherig tent and for the wonderful hospitality.

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