Educating for Sustainable Happiness

Educating for Sustainable Happiness

Maybe it is because Bhutan is so small--the size of Switzerland but with a population of only 700,000 people; or maybe it is because it is so deeply, genuinely Buddhist; or perhaps it is due to the remarkable vision of  two men, the Fourth and Fifth Druk Gyalpos (the last two kings in the Wangchuk dynasty who have overseen Bhutan's transition from a monarchy to a parliamentary democracy).  In any case, the education system in Bhutan is so well articulated, so thoughtful, so progressive and so comprehensive that it bears notice.  

The Ministry of Education here has spent years developing a method for "educating for sustainable happiness," that is, providing to all Bhutan's citizens a "holistic, contemplative, eco-sensitive" education, guaranteed by the Constitution* and based on the principles of Gross National Happiness.

Gross National Happiness has no true parallel in the United States, though it is often compared to our GDP, or Gross Domestic Product, the value of all goods and services in a given period of time; it is meant to indicate the economic health of a nation, and, by implication, its robustness in general.  But since 1971, Bhutan formally rejected GDP as a measure of the health of the nation and instead embraced GNH.  Years were spent developing a reliable and valid measure of happiness based on “Four Pillars”: 1) Equitable and sustainable economic development; 2) Preservation of culture and language; 3) Environmental conservation; and 4) Good governance.  These Four Pillars of GNH inform every policy decision made, including education policy (for more information on Bhutan’s GNH, go here: http://www.grossnationalhappiness.com/).

During a visit to the Ministry of Education, Lyonpo Thakur S. Powdyel (Lyonpo means ‘minister’) explained to us sixteen Bhutan Canada Foundation teachers the Five Pathways for Gross National Happiness in education.  The first is meditation and mind training (the Lyonpo took pains to point out that this is not Buddhist meditation per se since there are Bon and Hindu practitioners in Bhutan; however, the Bhutan Teacher Handbook states that one of the “Values Relating to Civic Responsibilities” that teachers are expected to impart to students is to “develop a commitment to Buddhist philosophy of non-violence, tolerance, compassion, love and peace which has enabled the Bhutanese to live in harmony, respecting individual difference”).  The Bhutanese believe that a student who does not know his own mind and who cannot focus his attention cannot learn and will not be happy.  The second pathway is the curriculum itself, which is allegedly infused with GNH values (more on the curriculum in a later post).  Provision of varied learning environments is the third pathway to GNH: instead of rote learning at a desk in a classroom, students are expected to augment their education with community service which is built into every school day; sports and games to develop collaboration; music, arts, and crafts, both traditional and contemporary; and what the Lyonpo called “classroom citizenship,” or what we might call ‘Effort/Conduct.”  Since TV and the internet were introduced in 1999, media literacy and critical thinking have gotten a great deal of attention and are now one of the Pathways to GNH.  Finally, holistic assessment are being promoted as healthier than learning by rote for standardized class exams (though, due to the overall system of promotion and the limited availability of university seats, students still must pass their tenth class exams in order to attend Higher Secondary School and be eligible for college placement; the result is a theoretical commitment to holistic, formative assessment but in reality, we are to teach to the test).

Lyonpo Thakur Powdyel

Lyonpo Powdyel was clear-eyed about the success of the implementation of these Pathways: he recognizes that thus far the effectiveness of this model has been limited.  This is a poor, rural country after all, and training principals and teachers in modern methodologies in far-flung Dzongkhags (districts) presents countless challenges, both pragmatic and philosophical.  Nevertheless, the theoretical underpinnings of the Bhutanese education system are impressive, as are its structural components, designed to bring free education to every citizen of Bhutan.


In Bhutan, there are three educational systems: the monastic system, the formal educational system (in existence only since the 1960s), and what is called the “non-formal and continuing education" system.  The combination of these three systems seeks to provide for the needs of ALL Bhutanese, regardless of their financial circumstances, age or location.  

The monastic system continues to provide a vital and relevant education but a narrowly defined one: in general, students study classical Tibetan (the national language of Bhutan, Dzongkha, is similar to Tibetan), not English, and, of course, Buddhist teachings and meditation.  In Thimphu, monks and nuns are seen on the streets nearly as often as lay people.  Roughly twenty percent of the population of Bhutan is monastic, but to an American it seems that even the shopkeepers are monastic:  everyone, including the teenagers with their K-Pop hairdos, prays in the morning as they spin prayer wheels in Clocktower Square or at the National Chorten, circumambulating, and repeating the mantras of Guru Rinpoche or the all-purpose Om mane padme hum (indeed, on a recent visit to the National Chorten I witnessed a three-year old girl giddily performing prostrations with her mother).  It is still a common practice for every family--especially less privileged ones--to send one male child to the monastery--after all, he will receive a free education with room and board.  Some of the older monks and nuns have entered monastic life because their children are grown, they are retired, and they want to finish their days in a life of contemplation, or they have no family to take care of them.  Thus, the monasteries are a comprehensive social welfare system for youth and the elderly.

The formal educational system began at the behest of the third King of Bhutan  who recognized the need for the Bhutanese to become aware of the world beyond Bhutan’s borders.  Today, this system consists of pre-primary through higher secondary and is free through the tenth class.  At the end of tenth grade, students take an exam to see if they will be permitted to continue their studies; the top 40% of test-takers are admitted to eleventh grade.  Those students who do not make the cut can pay for private school and attend higher secondary, or they can pay for private school and re-take tenth grade and the exam.
The other 60%--those students who do not pass the tenth grade exam--go either to vocational school, private school or work.  This formal system, the Lyonpo acknowledged, relies too much on standardized testing and does not promote critical thinking to the degree the Ministry desires, but, he noted, change takes time (he also noted that one of the reasons the government of Bhutan relies on NGOs like the Bhutan Canada Foundation is that they provide teachers who bring innovative approaches to teaching that demand students use critical thinking).

Most impressive, at least in theory, is Bhutan’s non-formal and continuing education system which provides education for those who, for whatever reason, are unable to take advantage of the formal system: older farmers who were already adults when the new school system was developed; women and girls who, for various reasons, could not take advantage of universal education; and anyone who cannot complete Higher Secondary school, either because they did not pass the exams or because they cannot afford to pay the school fees (only a few dollars per year) for 11th and 12th grades.

Across Bhutan, there are 958 Non-Formal Education (NFE) Centers that provide classes per the convenience of the students--early in the morning or late at night, depending on the students’ needs.  These Centers have their own curriculum and teaching staff and provide basic numeracy and literacy; some are in the most remote communities in Bhutan and others address the specific needs of nomads who can only “attend” school in specific seasons at specific places in the country, depending on when and where the livestock is herded**.  These NFEs have won international awards and are intended to become obsolete once all Bhutanese are literate and numerate.  Continuing Education (CE), or what we know as Adult Education, is also provided to improve the academic qualifications of those who ended their schooling at 10th grade.  Students in CE, all adults, take the Board Exams and pay for access to the same curriculum and teachers as the younger students in 10th-12th grades.

All of us in attendance at the Ministry were moved by the Lyonpo Powdyel’s explanation of Bhutan’s efforts to imbue teaching and learning with the principles of Gross National Happiness.  This isn’t simply rhetoric--it is clear from casual conversations with many Bhutanese that GNH is the currency here, much as our Bill of Rights or system of checks and balances provides our country with a moral direction.  However, we BCF teachers are aware that once we are in our schools we will be faced with the reality of class X exams and competition for coveted seats in 11th class and in university.  Over time, though, the Indian system that Bhutan inherited in the 1960s will give way to the vision of the current King Jigme Wangchuk and Lyonpo Powdyel as the notion of ‘educating for sustainable happiness’ slowly becomes reality.


*Article 9 of Bhutan’s constitution, passed in 2008, guarantees “education for the purpose of improving and increasing knowledge, values and skills of the entire population with education being directed towards the full development of the human personality.”  

**The schools in Bhutan fall into four categories based on their relative remoteness from an urban center.  The most remote schools are called “Difficult Schools”--these are near no roads, have no electricity, hospitals, telephones or markets, and are more than three dholams from a road, a dholam being “one day’s walk with a reasonable load.”  What a “reasonable load” might be is unclear--a 40 pound bag of rice?  One’s grandmother?  A “Remote School,” by comparison, is 1-2 dholams from a road.  Punakha Higher Secondary School, where I will be teaching, is considered an “Urban” school, though the adjective “urban” is not the urban invoked when describing an American city.