T P Venu
Bhutan is a country that goes about its work quietly and steadily. It does not care for validation and in any case does almost all things right. Take for instance, the introduction of Bhutan Baccalaureate without any fanfare. While all in the education fraternity keep going gaga over the IB programme or about Finland, this landlocked country is going about its business of transforming the education eco-system and how!
The Bhutan Baccalaureate focuses on awakening the primordial wisdom of every learner and is going in for ‘wholistic development’. Yes, they prefer not to use the word ‘holistic’. Based on the teachings of Guru Padmasambhava, the curriculum stresses on harnessing or awakening of the wisdom of every learner. An eco-system is created for self-introspection in order to recognize that each one is pure, joyful, creative, ever evolving and wholesome. 
The education system is steeped in the philosophy of completeness, contentment and growth in the truest sense of the term. Just like the government does not believe in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) but rather Gross Domestic Happiness (GDH), the education system too believes in not turning students into machines whose aim is to only earn but to introspect and find one’s true calling in life.
Bhutan Baccalaureate strives to break down the silos in schooling and ensure the development of the learner in the cerebral as well as in the emotional, physical, social and spiritual realms. The five areas that form the basis of Bhutan Baccalaureate and each area is recognised as an integral part of a child’s overall development. Curriculum here is to be taken in totality of the learner’s experience both inside as well as outside the classroom.
The education system is seamless. Bhutan’s King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck has a plan for the youth, a volunteer programme ‘Desuung’ meaning ‘Guardians of Peace’ looks to make the youth have a feeling of civic duty and support the country. The Bhutan Baccalaureate too encompasses for the development of an individual in a manner that he or she will partake in the development of the nation.
