Golden youth

April 16, 2009Posted inYouth
For more than three decades, His Majesty the Fourth Druk Gyalpo traveled to every part and every corner of our country to meet the children of Bhutan. And everywhere our king went, from community schools to Sherbutse, our nation’s “peak of learning”, He commanded: “The future of our country lies in the hands of our youth.”To honour and to celebrate our fourth king’s boundless love for and confidence in our youth, the Youth Development Fund started the Golden Youth Award a few years ago. This annual award essentially recognizes children who excel at school – in both, the classroom…

Student on ice

February 27, 2009Posted inInternational, Youth
Nishtha Sinha is Bhutan’s first student to visit Antarctica.Nishtha, an Indian, studies in Lungtenzampa MSS. So she represented two countries – Bhutan and India – when she participated in the 15-day Antarctic University Expedition 2009.The expedition, which ended yesterday, was organized by Students on Ice, a unique program that takes students, teachers and scientists to Antarctica and the Arctic to learn about and to develop respect for the world’s ecosystem.Nishtha, along with other student researchers from high schools and universities from a dozen countries, blogged from their “school” onboard the research ship, MV Ushuaia. Her second blog can be…

Treasure hunting

January 18, 2009Posted inNature, People, Youth
I met Tobgay today. He’s nine years old and has just completed Class II in Dechechencholing MSS. He was rummaging through my negibour’s waste. In fact, Tobgay was recycling garbage. He was collecting various tins and bottles, and plastics and metals to sell to a scrap dealer in town. His part-time work would fetch him Nu 5 per kg for iron, steel and certain plastics; Nu 1 for every beer bottle; and Nu 30 per kg for aluminum cans. That’s easy money, he confided, because there’s always plenty of recyclable garbage. Yesterday he and his friends earned Nu 130.…

Learning taekwondo

December 20, 2008Posted inYouth
Galek, my daughter, attends taekwondo classes twice a week. This is one of the activities organized by her school for their students during the winter holidays. Galek loves it.I accompanied her yesterday. I wanted to see how good she’d become. Instead I got to see how good our boys are.Galek’s coach, Sir Kinley, had called his friends to do a short demonstration for his students. They put on quite a show – performing complicated moves, perfectly choreographed fights, breaking wooden boards and smashing apples blindfolded. Galek and her friends enjoyed the performance. That was the idea. I was enthralled.…

Good luck

December 18, 2008Posted inYouth
950 university graduates have registered to appear for the Civil Service Common Examinations. Written exams for Technical and Dzongkha graduates begin today. General graduates start theirs on the 23rd. After years of studies, tests and interviews, it is the Common Exams which will determine their immediate futures and, in many cases, their destinies. I wish all of them the BEST OF LUCK!