Supporting students with disability in schools in Bhutan: perspectives from school principals

ABSTRACT

Bhutanese educators are facing the challenge of implementing inclusive education for students with disability throughout their schooling system. Selected schools have started to implement inclusive policies and practices, and it is timely to investigate the progress of inclusive education in these schools. In this qualitative study, 14 Bhutanese principals responded to questions regarding inclusive practices in their schools. Responses were divided into two broad categories: the current status of inclusion in their school; and, inclusion in the future. Principals described barriers such as a lack of specialised teachers, inadequate resources and facilities, and a lack of holistic inclusion. However, they also noted that students were accepted by their peers, that the schools were working well with what they have, and that there was a positive attitude for the future. Changes that are required to progress inclusive education in Bhutan from the perspective of the principals are discussed. The findings of this research will be of interest to researchers and leaders in schools and ministries of education who are working to promote more inclusive schools in less developed countries.

KEYWORDS:

• Inclusive education
• less developed countries
• education for all

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Amrith Bdr Subba is a senior counsellor at the Youth Center Division of the Department of Youth and Sports, Ministry of Education, Thimphu, Bhutan. He looks after counselling and guidance services for young people. He has a Masters Degree in Counselling from Curtin University of Technology, Perth, Western Australia. Apart from providing counselling services, he also manages youth development projects and contributes to designing and implementing programs and activities relevant to the needs of young people in Bhutan. Besides his regular job, he is also a technical committee member of the Disabled Persons’ Association of Bhutan (DPAB) which is the first registered non-governmental organization founded to support persons with disabilities in Bhutan and he is part of many major initiatives of the Association as a volunteer.

Chokey Yangzom is a special education teacher in Changangkha Middle Secondary School, Thimphu. She is also a cluster lead teacher of nine schools in Thimphu. She has been a teacher for more than 22 years and has been involved in special educational needs programs since 2009. Since then, she has been completely devoted in teaching and catering to needs of children with special needs to make a difference in the lives of these children. She completed her master’s degree in educational studies from the University of Newcastle in Australia with support from the Royal Government of Bhutan Scholarship.

Karma Dorji works as a Lecturer in the College of Education under the Royal University of Bhutan. He started his career as a teacher in 2004. Having worked in very remote schools in Bhutan, he understands the whole gamut of challenges faced by teachers. It was during the initial period of his teaching that Mr. Dorji ventured into volunteerism helping students continue their schooling. Children coming from economically tested parents were provided support. In the College, Dorji teaches Professional subjects like Teaching Skills and Academic Writing Skills. Besides teaching, he is the Advisor of the Literary Club. He is also given the charge to look after the Scouts programme. Dorji pursued his Masters from the University of Canberra under an ADS scholarship. He has a Master of Arts in TESoL.

Sangye Choden works as Deputy Chief Program Officer at the Quality Assurance and Accreditation Division, Department of Adult and Higher Education, Ministry of Education. She pursued her Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) from Sherubtse College, University of Delhi, India. She completed her Master of Commerce (Economics & Finance) from Curtin University, Australia in 2006. She started her career as an Assistant Trainee Officer in 2001 under the Ministry of Finance. She joined the Ministry of Education in 2012. She worked as one of the core team members in developing the Bhutan Education Blueprint (BEP) 2014–2024. The BEP is a roadmap that encompasses wide research on the current education system, including existing policies and structure of the Ministry, challenges and issues, and recommendations to improve the overall quality of education provision in Bhutan. Since then, she developed a keen interest in inclusive education and continues to work in the interest of students with special needs.

Ugyen Namgay is a Member of Parliament representing Haa Dzongkhag at the National Council of Bhutan. He is also member of the Social and Culture Affairs Committee of the National Council of Bhutan. Prior to the current post, Ugyen worked at the Office of Performance Management under His Majesty’s Secretariat as Senior Analyst. He resigned from civil service in the beginning of 2018. From 2009 to 2015, Ugyen worked as a Senior Planning Officer with the Policy and Planning Division of the Ministry of Education, during which time he was involved in the formulation and implementation of various policies for the education sector in Bhutan. He has a Masters degree in Public Policy from the Australian National University in Canberra, Australia.

Suzanne Carrington is a Professor and Assistant Dean (Research) in the Faculty of Education, Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Australia. Suzanne’s areas of expertise are in inclusive education, disability, and teacher preparation for inclusive schools. She has engaged in research to inform policy and practice in Australian and international education contexts, more recently extending this research to the South Pacific and Asia. She has broad knowledge of education research, and her publication list provides evidence of extensive collaboration with education, health, and medical research.

Julie Nickerson is a Research Assistant with the Faculty of Education at the Queensland University of Technology, Australia. She has worked on the research, writing, and editing of many articles and books for publication with topics including disability-inclusive education, high-stakes testing, teacher professionalism, and curriculum design.

ORCID

Suzanne Carrington http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8944-7674

Notes

1. In the medical model, disability is seen as an illness or impairment which prevents the individual from being ‘normal’. The problem is inherent within the individual not the system. The individual requires treatment (Carrington and MacArthur 2012).