…the education ministry’s plan is to replace the BCSE with a teacher eligibility test under the teaching service plan

KP Sharma

Amidst high civil servant attrition, particularly within the education sector, the Ministry of Education and Skills Development is in discussions with the Royal Civil Service Commission (RCSC) to secure autonomy for the national teaching service.

The discussions are underway and nothing concrete has been finalised yet.

The ministry is seeking authority to oversee recruitment, selection, and other management aspects of the teaching service.

As many trained teachers leave and untrained contract teachers have to fill the gap, local leaders are urging the ministry to take action and expressed dissatisfaction with the current recruitment system.

Dagala gup and Thimphu Dzongkhag Tshogdu (DT) thrizin, Gado, highlighted the issue of trained teachers remaining unemployed despite four years of rigorous training.

“The government sends a large number of students to teacher training colleges every year, but they are not deployed after completing their training,” Gado said.

He added that the lack of opportunities forced trained teachers to seek opportunities abroad, resulting in a significant loss for the country.

Gado urged the ministry to consider recruiting trained teachers who have been sidelined due to exam results. He argued that their long-term training and expertise would benefit the country.

Similarly, Samtse’s DT thrizin and Tendu gup, Nima Dukpa, stressed the need for technical guidance and support for contract teachers, who are often untrained.

He suggested that the ministry conduct timely assessments and monitoring to ensure the quality of education at the grassroots level.

In response to these concerns, Nima Damdul, the Chief Human Resource Officer of MoESD, said that if the national teaching service plan is approved, it would allow the ministry to improve the current system and enhance human resources in teaching.

Under this plan, contract teachers would receive training in collaboration with teacher training colleges, using a blended or mis-mode learning approach.

“Contract teachers with bachelor’s degrees will undergo two months of training during the winter vacation at a residential school in Samtse,” Nima Damdul said.

Further, he said that they would complete four modules and would have to undergo practice during the summer break to enable them to obtain a postgraduate degree within two years.

Regarding the civil service examination for B.Ed trainees, Nima Damdul said that the ministry’s plan is to replace the BCSE with a teacher eligibility test under the teaching service plan. “Students will take the eligibility test as a final exam instead of the BCSE.”

The issue was also raised by the National Council’s special committee for education during the recent Parliament session.

In the Council’s interim report, the committee recommended that the government strengthen the current teacher recruitment procedures and criteria in the colleges of education.

The committee advised revisiting the current teacher deployment system, which is based on the student-teacher ratio, to better accommodate subject teacher specialisation and address the specific needs of schools.

Many, however, are skeptical about the success of the ministry’s plans, given that the RCSC makes independent decisions on proposals.