KP Sharma

The Dzongkha curriculum is being revised to make Dzongkha attractive to the learners and to make the subject relevant to the changing times.

According to Unit Head and Curriculum Developer for secondary Dzongkha at the Department of Curriculum and Professional Division (DCPD), Dorji, students show less interest in Dzongkha because the subject “does not have content to grab the interest of the learners.”

That, he said, is one reason why there are more failures in Dzongkha than in other subjects.




As per the Annual Pupil Report 2022, of the 13,700 candidates who appeared for BHSEC in 2021, 727 failed in Dzongkha. In the same year, of the 12,546 candidates who sat for board exams for Class X, 1,219 failed in Dzongkha.

Dorji said that it is challenging for the teachers to make students study and learn Dzongkha.

“Learners expect interesting and attractive contents. If we had a good curriculum, students would be interested to learn the subject” he said

He said that with young people going abroad after Class XII, Dzongkha is being seen as an unimportant subject. “Dzongkha as a main subject could not accomplish the expected objectives.”




A teacher who has been teaching Dzongkha for more than 10 years said that it is challenging to teach Dzongkha as students lack interest which hinders their overall performance.

Another teacher said that Dzongkha reading and writing skills among the students is not up to the mark. “The problem is serious in the urban schools.”

The center hopes to implement the revised curriculum in the next academic year.