Yangyel Lhaden

The Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) curriculum is facing serious setbacks, largely due to its dependence on contract-based instructors.

This dependence on temporary teaching staff has caused significant disruptions, leaving students with incomplete training. Many teachers are hired on short-term contracts, and once they secure permanent positions elsewhere, they leave. This results in frequent gaps in the curriculum, with some courses going without instructors for extended periods.

The seven TVET pilot schools in the country—Baylling, Rangjung, Chumey, Punakha Central Schools, Khuruthang, Babesa Middle Secondary Schools, and Bajothang Higher Secondary School, have been offering TVET as an elective since 2020.

The TVET programme was launched to equip youth with vocational skills to address skills gap in the labour market, address youth unemployment, and reduce stigma around vocational training, among others.

All of the TVET schools are struggling to keep up with the elective course. Some schools attempt to bridge the gap by hiring instructors from nearby Technical Training Institutes (TTIs) on a short-term basis, but this is not a sustainable solution.

For instance, all TVET instructors at Rangjung Central School (RCS), recruited during the inception of the TVET programme, have since left for better opportunities, either as instructors in TTIs or abroad.

This year, the school has recruited an entirely new set of TVET instructors.

RCS Principal Yenten Nyingtob said that whenever a teacher leaves, it creates a vacuum, and it takes months to recruit a new one. “At the school level, we try to engage our technical staff to fill in the classes whenever a TVET instructor leaves, but filling in the gap has not been easy.”

RCS offers three TVET courses—computer hardware and networking, electrical, and furniture.

Punakha Central School (PCS) has been without a TVET electrical instructor for over three months after the previous instructor left for a permanent position at Khuruthang TTI. At the school’s request, he occasionally returns on weekends or during the course period to teach students when he can.

PCS offers electrical and welding TVET course.

“At the school level, we have also hired an intern as a TVET instructor,” PCS Principal Sherab Tshering said. “Something is better than nothing, rather than letting students waste time during the TVET elective period.”

He said that finding a competent TVET instructor was also challenging. “Regularising teachers would make a big difference in students’ interest in taking up the course and in the overall success of this TVET pilot project.”

Yenten Nyingtob said that for TVET to gain momentum, it is important to ensure job security for TVET teachers and provide them with formal teaching training, as most instructors were recruited directly after graduating from TTIs.

At Bajothang, which offers the only automobile course in the region, a new TVET instructor has finally been appointed after a four-month vacancy following the previous instructor’s departure abroad.

At Baylling Central School (BCS), the two instructors recruited at the programme’s inception are still teaching. The BCS provides two TVET courses—tailoring and painting.

The painting instructor at BCS, Sangay Tenzin, said that unlike other TVET instructors, there were fewer job opportunities in the painting and tailoring sectors.

The officiating principal of BCS, Kuenga Wangchuk, said that most people, including TVET instructors, sought career advancement and job security. “One discouraging factor for contract teachers is that they are not eligible for the ex-country training.”

Additionally, there is a challenge with only one instructor assigned to teach each class from grades IX to XII. “With instructors on contract, the workload is also high, compounding the difficulties faced in delivering quality education.”

An official from the Ministry of Education and Skills Development explained that TVET instructor recruitment follows guidelines set by the Royal Civil Service Commission, contingent upon national human resource planning. “Skilling programmes are prioritised in the 13th Plan, and development will proceed accordingly,” the official stated.