To Teach and Learn

Yeshi, Yuden and Rita. I teach with faces I learn innocent faces So wear happy face

‘’It is with the heart that one sees rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.’’                                                                                              ANTOINE DE SAINT-EXUPERY,                                                      ...

On 30 th April His Majesty the Fifth Druk Gyalpo visited my school. It was a pleasant morning and everyone in the school was very excited. The atmosphere in the multipurpose hall where we waited, I felt, was intoxicatingly intense with everyone eager to meet His Majesty.    His Majesty came to school and only talked about love . When asked by one of the students, what he as a king expected from an educated Bhutanese, he simply told the student and all the other students to love their husbands and wives in the future. His Majesty said charity begins at home, so happiness should also begin at one’s home and then extend outwards. It was a morning filled with His Majesty’s laughter, the atmosphere in the hall was lively and everyone/thing was gay. It was also on that fine auspicious morning that His Majesty announced that he has decided to marry. A suitable person who will be his better half has been found. And there was love in the air. I was simply amazed to watc...

BY LEKI WANGMO AND NEELAM RAI, 12 Science A, 2010. S AP-school agriculture program has been instituted in almost all the schools and Punakha higher secondary school is no exception. It was initiated and reinstated as part of club activity in the year 2007 under the guidance of Mr. Bal Krishna Dungyel and the principal  Mr.Kinley Gyeltshen. Today, this club stands as one of the most successful clubs with 30 members and two co-coordinators along with SAP committee members.“Students learn by doing. They learn to respect dignity of labour and also value community service,” is what Mr.Sonam Gyeltshen, the club coordinator has to say. “LEARNING BY DOING,” thus stands their motto with the vision, to realize the concept of GNH through educational process by imparting values of dignity of labour, in mitigating rural to urban migration of youth and thus ushering balance development in the country. The SAP area includes a small demo garden for ...

Lately I have been very busy because I have asked my students to start writing journals. My students write three journal entries for one week and they have to get it corrected from me and rewrite again. The journal entry can be on anything they like to write about. It can be describing the tree outside their classroom, or guesses about why the teacher was late, or describing their friend or the weather...it can be about anything. Anything, as long as it is not personal.  I have started this so that they will improve their writing skills, express their thoughts better. I have also asked them to borrow/use the words and phrases they come across in their reading to express their own ideas and emotions in their journals. Like other classes my students don't maintain writing portfolios but they update their reading portfolios by writing the book reviews. I don't know where will this will take us, but am hopeful that it will result into something positive.  The only pr...

Bhutan the ‘Land of Thunder Dragon’ for a complete century has been under a wonderful system of Monarchy. Through good and bad times alike, she has never lost sight of that quest or forgotten the ideal which gave her strength because of the farsighted kings who led her. The achievement we celebrate today is but a step, and opening of opportunity to the greater triumphs and achievement that await us with its change to be a Democratic nation. His Majesty the Fifth King said ; “The highest achievement of one hundred years of Monarchy has been the constant nurturing of Democracy. This has culminated with the first sitting of Parliament and the start of Democracy, where my father the Fourth Druk Gyalpo and I, hereby, return to our people the powers that had been vested in our kings by our forefathers one hundred years ago. We do so with absolute faith and confidence, offer our complete support and prayers for the success of Democracy” Bhutan enjoyed long, unprecedented peace u...

Mr. Yesh B Ghaley (This writing may not be of much interest to people who are not related to Punakha HSS.) You hear words and you form images in your head, bits of colors, vague outlines and broken figures come together like pieces of puzzles to give life to your interpretation of the person. You try to form a picture as close as possible to the real man from the information you gather. It’s an interesting game and you may marvel at the many pictures you form and reject in your mind. This is what I did when I heard that my school was getting a new principal. I heard his name, ‘Yesh B Ghaley’, and instantly images started forming in my head. Later I heard more about him, a little from here and a little from there, the picture became clearer. Like one of the supporting staff described him after seeing him, ‘very hansom’, very true, he is hansom. But beyond the good looks, I found him overwhelmingly powerful. I don’t know if my opinion will remain the same but his first ad...