ブータンにおける初期近代教育事情の解明 : 近代教育50年史

Abstract

This study aims to clarify the situation of early modern education in the Kingdom of Bhutan during the 1910-1950s by analysing reliable documents like annual reports on the relations between the British Government and Bhutan written by successive political officers in Sikkim. The origins of modern education in Bhutan can be traced back approximately 100 years. According to a history textbook there, 1914 saw the inception of modern education when 46 boys travelled to study at Dr. Graham's Homes in Kalimpong, India. In the same year, Ugyen Dorji established Bhutan's first modern school in Haa District. Then in the following year, another school was established in Bumthang District for educating the Crown Prince and children of the people serving in the King's court. In the first half of this paper, the author tried to examine the various aspects of these schools and proposed some facts of them and their students. Instead of the elite education institutions for the selected few, schools for the general public were established in Bhutan in the 1940-1950s. These schools can be classifying into 'private schools for Nepali immigrants' which were privately established in response to the strong demands of local residents in Southern area and 'public schools for Bhutanese' which were established under the initiative of local government officials. In the second half of this paper, it mentioned representative examples of these contrasting schools and took up educational development plan and ambition by policy makers such as the Third King Ugyen Dorji Wangchuck and the first Prime Minister Jigme Palden Dorji.