As cases of the Covid-19 continue to surge in the southern district of Phuentsholing in Bhutan, the government is now exploring the possibility of relocating students to other relatively safer cities as schools remain closed for more than 50 days.   

Jai Bir Rai, Bhutan's education minister, during question hour in parliament on Wednesday, informed that they were considering relocating students. However, he added, that a similar plan last year had not worked out well as parents opposed the relocation, reported Kuensel. 

“We’ll see how the situation unfolds in about a week given that the place is seeing an increasing number of positive cases,” Rai said in parliament.

The remark came in response to a question by Sangay Dorji, a member of parliament. He inquired about the ministry’s plans to continue schools. The MP also expressed concerns that even after the introduction of the New Normal Curriculum (NNC), students aren’t attending classes. 

Sangay Dorji said that with the New Normal Curriculum (NNC) in place, it is worrying to see students continue to miss their classes.

Kesang Chuki Dorjee, another MP, questioned the government’s lack of preparation in rolling out the new curriculum. Teachers haven’t trained adequately for conducting online classes, and the IT infrastructure required the business is also lacking, he said.

So far, over 7,000 teachers were trained and some are still being trained, Rai informed the house. “Education couldn’t wait for the pandemic to end since the change was important,” he responded. 

“We understand there’s a gadget disparity but given the budget constraints we can’t force the government to provide gadgets to all students immediately,” he said.

(SAM)