Bhutan - A Unique Development Philosophy

It was only 40 years ago when Bhutan, a small kingdom set in the high mountains of the Great Himalayas, opened its doors to development. Since then, however, there has been no turning back. Development has taken place at tremendous speed, bringing Bhutan into the 21st century with many challenges, one of the biggest being urgently addressing the growing needs of its large youth population.

Overall, Bhutan’s development philosophy has focused on the people’s well-being and happiness rather than on customary goal of economic prosperity. The concept of ‘Gross National Happiness’, as articulated by His Majesty King Jigme Singye Wangchuck, emphasizes the need to balance spiritual, emotional and material development as an effective means to achieve true happiness. Emanating from this are five themes – human development, culture and heritage, balanced and equitable development, good governance and environmental conservation – that embody the guiding principles directing the Kingdom’s future. Achieving these ambitions goals is constrained, however, by extremely high infrastructure costs in this mountainous, landlocked country, as well as the narrow national financial resource base. Therefore, Bhutan is compelled to accept development assistance despite its firm belief in self-reliance, in order to enhance the quality of people’s lives.

Youth - A Precious Resource

Bhutan is a national of both age-old tradition and a rapidly growing youth population. An estimated 59 percent of Bhutanese are younger than age 24, with 21 percent aged 10 to 19 alone. Given that youth are a positive force in society with tremendous potential to participate effectively in the Kingdom’s advancement, their development is of utmost importance.

Bhutan realizes its obligations to respond more effectively to the economic, social, educational, emotional, cultural and spiritual; needs of youth and their problems. In addition, as a signatory to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, Bhutan has joined other countries in reaffirming its commitment toward ensuring the emotional, intellectual and physical growth and development of its own children. With the increasing emergence of youth related problems in society, the need to focus on youth development in a comprehensive manner has been intensified.

To be sure, while modernization can bring vast benefits, it also encompasses a darker aspect of various social problems. With increasing urbanization, for example, has come drug abuse, delinquency and prostitution. Among those affected are the youth, some of whom are easily impressed by the allure of the new world and thus adopt behavior detrimental to themselves and the larger society alike.

Although it has made tremendous progress in increasing its coverage of pupils as well as in localizing curriculum, the modern Bhutanese education system continues to benefit from a major share of the government’s budget; the high demand placed by fast-expanding student population continues to leave it short of essential resources, including teachers. This has affected the quality of education in general and in particular the kinds of values and guidance that need to be instilled in the youth.

In addition, until now very few programmes have been established to address out-of-school youth. As recently as a decade ago, most of these young people would have stayed on their families’ farms, but now a considerable number have migrated to urban centers. A critical need thus exists to also provide programmes suitable for this population group.

It cannot reasonably be expected that hardworking parents and busy communities will provide all necessary guidance for the welfare of youth. The Royal Government and the Department of Education, in particular, have taken on this task to a large extent. Under the Department of Youth & Culture of Ministry of Education, for example, programmes being implemented include scouting, guidance and career counseling, games and sports, basic skills training, vocational education, etc.

Because of the lack of steady source of funding, youth development activities outside of the school curriculum are conducted on a mostly ad hoc basis. Even those enumerated above as part of the education process face significant financial constraints. Highly conscious of the challenges facing Bhutan’s youth, His Majesty King Jigme Singye Wangchuck declared late in 1998 that a Youth Development Fund be established to sustain youth development programming. This fund intended as the primary mechanism to address the development of the nation’s youth, now and in the future.