In February 2009, the UNB/Bhutan Project closed. This marks the end of CIDA’s funding through UNB for the education system in the small kingdom of Bhutan. Canada’s relationship with Bhutan began more than forty years ago when the Royal Government of Bhutan asked a Canadian Jesuit, Father William Mackay, to establish a secular secondary school system. At the time there were no roads, no motor vehicles, no telephones and no postal services. For the vast majority of people “school’ was an unknown word as education was unavailable and had no place in family survival strategies.
In the mid 1980’s, when the Bhutanese Government decided to send educators abroad for advanced training through funding from the World University Service of Canada (WUSC), Father Mackay recommended Canada and the University of New Brunswick was chosen as the best fit. Under this funding, 20 educators came to UNB and more than 40 teachers traveled to Bhutan to work in the schools. In 1992, UNB signed the first of three 5-year contribution agreements with the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) to assist in strengthening the education system and improving the quality of education in Bhutan. And so the UNB/Bhutan Project was born.
Dr. Gerald Clarke (left) at signing of first MOU.
Today Bhutan’s education system penetrates deep into the most inaccessible parts of the nation and is noted to be one of the best in South Asia. The impact of the UNB/Bhutan Project on its development through its crucial periods of change and growth has been considerable. UNB graduates are deployed in positions of responsibility throughout the country and are having a tangible influence on shaping and improving education in schools and in a range of institutions that provide specialized education as well as tertiary education and vocational training. Many have been placed in the Ministry of Education where they have direct impact on the education system. Two UNB graduates now represent Bhutan’s people in the recently established democratic government.
From a larger perspective, the UNB/Bhutan Project has provided the conduit for Canadian interaction with Bhutan and, although the Project is at its completion, the long and trusted relationships that have developed between the two countries and between UNB and the Bhutanese educators involved over the past three to four decades will undoubtedly continue.
