LEYTROCHENGI PHUENDROG - The Fated Siblings and Friends

Leytrochengi-puen-drog (The fated siblings and friends)

Introduction

Harmony is a core tenet of safe and secure society. It elevates the health of society by augmenting companionship and kinship among the people. It can be observed that the wellbeing of a society enormously depend on how closely the people live in unity contributing to each other’s enrichment and empowerment.  Without social harmony any activities perhaps would fail in promoting the wellbeing of the people. It is true of the schools, where children from diverse background with varying feat and character, with different hopes and aspirations come together. Therefore, schools have laboured to develop love, respect and responsibility for each other to embrace the similarities and understand the differences in humanity. 

It is in recognition of the underlying values of harmony that Phuntsholing Middle Secondary School on; June 2, 2014 has come up with a programme to bind the students and teachers into bond of sisterhood, Leytro-chengi-puendrog (The fated sibling and friends) corresponding to the Coronation anniversary of His Majesty the forth King Jigme Singye Wangchuk who is, the symbol of unity and oneness among Bhutanese people. It is a fraternal programme to assure an environment of companionship and kinship; dedicated to the intellectual, physical, psychological, moral, spiritual, and social development of the school family members.  Students are grouped up into which is considered to be their ‘leytro-chengi-puendrog (the fated sibling and friends). Each group would be at least with a teacher as head of the family. They are expected to live as a family as long as they are in this school; and if fate takes them further, their bond is desired to last beyond and always.

Family bond has a profound effect on humanity. It develops a sense of interdependence, attachment, commitment, abidance, and harmony, which in turn empowers the will of every individual not only to live but to make their life purposeful to self and to other beings. It is a fact that, in value of bond and harmony do the virtuous elements like love, respect, and responsibility for self and other humanity imbibed. In effect, it means that these elements, as the essence of humanity, have the merit to contribute for the growth of every one.

By any essence, school is a large extended family. Though people come from various home and social background, at school, everybody shares the same time and space, resources, beliefs and culture, and goals and visions.  As a family everyone is regarded equal, loved, respected and motivated. This program, thus intents in developing family bond among the school members and delve feeling of love, care, warmth, belongingness, respect and most importantly responsible for each other’s wellbeing. The rationale, aims, goals, procedural strategy, and values underlying this programme are hence laid.

Rationale and significance of the programme       

                                                                        

School has recognised value of harmony, cooperation and bonding among the school members to ensure safe and conducive school environment which is indispensible for holistic development of the students. Given this fact, school authority and the teachers take crucial role in making the schools home for the students through assortment of innovative endeavours. Efforts are also made to identify the potentials of each child and assist mustering the talents. However, in recent years schools have been outstretched with influx of children which has gorged a wide disproportion in teacher-student ratio insinuating a radical challenge for the teachers from reaching out to every child. Consequently, this has deprived many children from care, warmth and treatment they need at school.

Children come with multiple talents and potentials from diverse background to the schools. Besides developing children academically, the schools also have a crucial obligation to identify, recognise and provide support to every child in shaping their interest and talent. However, many children are left out, therefore their potentials and dreams.

All children are exposed to some negative social setups and coercions; even worst, many of them do not get proper guidance from the adults at home and neighbourhood. This leaves many of them subject to problems including delinquency which is common among the young people, especially the juveniles. Lack of love, care, belongingness and proper guidance are viewed as the prime factors for juvenile issues. All children are not lucky in having a caring home, adoring friends, and motivating role models. They find the world dreadful and life morass. They sub-standardize themselves defeating their potentials, hopes, dreams and grow up to becomes an adult who cannot find love and trust in any one but only suspicion and confusion. This would have further effect on the future of the societies for whom the schools are growing the children for. Schools, therefore, as nucleus of the children, have to address the problems for immediate relief, motivate the child and uplift their esteem; expedite to sustain their hopes and dreams; and provide them with life skills to confront the hurdles that they would run into in their life. 

 The diversity in the background of the children also propels necessity for schools to have a common value that binds everyone to oneness and sameness. Despite the fact that, all human are more alike than different, schools still confront cases of children marginalizing each other based on gender, religion, socio-economic status and intellectual abilities. This has potential immediate effect on some children and long term morale and social influence on all the children. It demoralizes and secludes the marginalized children who gradually restrain from taking parts in any school activities; and in more severe cases, students choose to leave the schools. On the other hand those who marginalize, they would not learn the value of respect and equality in humanity and grow up with tendency of narcissism. There are danger of demoralized and narcissist not connecting well with their surroundings now and when they become adult.

In response to all above concerns, the school in hope to create a salient home-like environment by binding all the school members into bond of family sharing love and respect, priority and preferences, smile and laughter on the trail of common endeavour to growth and character formation, has crafted this ‘family model program’, Leythrochengi puendrog (the fated sibling and friends).  This programme has merit of bringing all the school members together, and assures fraternal love, care, respect and equality among everyone. It is also expected that through this initiative, school would be in position to identify and develop potential and talents of each child, uphold and sustain their dreams, provide life skill to the children to tackle the hurdle in life, develop moral and social values and most importantly facilitate a safe and secure school for advancement in the quest of knowledge, skill and character formation – as the children stride towards their dream. .

Aim

To produce youth with deep humanitarian value to fellow human being and cultivate virtue which can elevate social harmony and fraternity.

Mission

Building an empathetic society which does not neglect the other being

Goals

·         Build harmony among the school members sharing family-like bonding

·         Enhance academic performance of the children through safe, secure and supportive environment.

·         Develop leadership quality in children

Objective

to be able to provide timely support to every child in any need

·         to develop family-like bonding among the school members

·         to provide safe, secure and positive learning environment

·         to build a culture of collaborative learning among the children

·         to identify individual interest and talents of every child and provide support in mustering them.

·         to curtail disciplinary issues in the school

·         to develop sense of love, respect, equality and responsibility for others in all the school members

·         to be able to develop life skill in the children.

Group formation and how to go about

• ·         The students of classes VI to X would be grouped proportionate to the number of teachers in the school.
• ·         All groups must accept the members as their own siblings of fate and treat each other as brothers and sister.
• ·         Each group must have a teacher as the head/leader of the family.    
• ·         Every group must make an arrangement to meet at least once every week to assure the wellbeing of all the members.
• ·         Every group must sit together for lunch every day.
• ·         Groups must coordinate activities within the groups to strengthen the bond among the members.
• ·         The group leader must remain informed about all-encompassing good and bad about the entire group members every time.
• ·         Any personal issue of group member must be closely looked into and provided with instant assistance and support by the group leader and rest of the group members.
• ·         Group leader must try to solve any disciplinary issues within the group members
• ·         Problems beyond the capacity of the groups must be reported positively to the concerned authority for advice and necessary action as per the school policy.

Role and Responsibilities of the group leader - group leader must:

• ·         be always a role model who, projects high moral, spiritual, and social skills and value to the rest of the members.
• ·         ensure the decorum of the group
• ·         be resourceful and knowledgeable in initiating various means to develop bond and promote intellectual, moral, spiritual and social skills and values in the group members.
• ·         be able to motivate the members to study hard
• ·         be able to up-hold the beliefs and culture of the school
• ·         be able to identify and offer immediate support in boosting children’s interest, potential and talents of the everyone in the group.

·         explain the merit and spirit of this programme to the members.

Role and responsibility of the group members:

• ·         Everyone must hold each other as the brothers and sisters as though of born from same womb
• ·         Must share mutual love and respect within the group members and other groups treating every one equal.
• ·         Must up-hold the culture of respect for elder and compassionate treatment of the youngers.
• ·         Any group member or children from other groups going through any problem must be helped and supported immediately by informing to the concerned group leader.
• ·         Must reveal the potentials and talents of each other to the teachers and other school members to help every individual receive needful support in moulding the talent to full ability.
• ·         must assist and motivate each other to study harder
•        must share knowledge and skills with each other

• ·         Must plan for programmes that could bring the members close and suggest the leader for coordination.
• ·         any indifference and disputes among the group members or between the groups must be reported to the group leader/leaders for advice and guidance.

Core Value of the programme

• ·         Humanity is a team, and even though each person would like to be on top, remember that the best style of leadership is by example because the event of one person wisely applying what he or she knows trumps the mere dissemination of a lesson to many any day but both are a helpful influence to others.
• ·         Compete constructively and try to resolve conflicts with patience, tolerance, and communication.
• ·         Extend and embrace love at every opportunity.
• ·         Love for self, humanity and the Universe based on the inherent and growing richness of each is the key to an integrated connection with others who also have the opportunity to appreciate these fundamentals of existence to allow for an enduring happiness.
• ·         Realize that what goes around comes around. Send out positive, constructive, and caring actions and words so that the same are returned to you.
• ·         Realize that if one is at peace with self, then it is easier to be at peace with others.
• ·         Recognize that people have individual lifestyle preferences when it comes to things like food, fragrances, fashion, and entertainment and that sometimes one person’s trash might be another person’s treasure.
• ·         Generate the grateful awareness that we are all children of the Universe and allow one’s heart to wish perpetually every person more life, more happiness, more success, more love, and more enlightenment.
• ·         Recognize the abundant potential that exists for us to all be adequately sustained through cooperation and an intelligent management of our resources.
• ·         Seek to enjoy life and seek to allow others to do the same.
• ·         No task is hard to achieve, no hurdle to overcome and no problem without solution.

How I learned the word 'Psychologist' - In remembrance of my teacher

Sir,

The year was 1992 when I joined Tsebar Pilot School then, upon my father's transfer to Tsebar from Yurung. I am sure you remember him, Lopen Tshering Wangdi. I joined there in class II, you were my class teacher and you taught me English, the language I am writing this text in. I was too young to understand your love for us then, but in retrospection, you have left a trademark in forming my character as human. If I could not become a good human, it is all due to my ignorance alone, for I had chance in my life to have met with this great human, a man who projected all the virtues of humanity - love, care, trust, honesty, integrity, altruism, compassion and so forth, he was you, my teacher. I can remember how you use to bring books from library and encourage us to read. When I was in class six in 1996, you use to be there every morning with us at six o'clock to monitor our morning reading class. I realise now, it was all out of your sheer love for us and never under an official command; you did away your time with your family for us which hardly a few teachers did then and do now.

Teachers are law Abiding Citizens

This piece was written way back in 2012...

With Gross National Happiness (GNH) ceremoniously walking into the school premises, our students are growing up to be happy citizen of Bhutan, at least that’s what we the adults expect and started believing. That’s for what the government is investing a lot of interest and the teachers in the schools are blistering to the extent of drenching themselves into sweats of endeavor. It has done a gross lot of good in keeping the teachers happy as well, for it came with additional human values to make one smile and laugh in times of condemnation. It has succeeded in generating the valiant figure in the hearts of teachers. Teachers of this state have bowed to the service they are entrusted. They work hard to dumb the still-going-on ‘deriding murmur’ against the quality of education – which to put upright, people have always thought, is solely the teachers’ responsibility

But the teaching profession in our country has become an entrapment , as of now. One is trapped in obligatory service for at least ten years if happened to fall in the clutch of  Ministry of Education (MoE). A teacher can’t inter-change the ministry unless he/she spends lengthy ten years under MoE. 

By choice or by chance; born to be teacher or learnt to be teacher, the teachers are toiling day in and night out to fight against the ignorance of illiterate and innocence of youth. They have always taken the profession as a means to help others grow, and neither did they wish to make a fortune of wealth out of it nor have they enjoyed a glorious human crave for social status. Only often do they wish for a life of the other people and so seldom do they chance to find rare opportunities to get to think of their own interest – want to exercise their talent and skill in particular field – want to work in better place and with better scope. But that is now, prevented and averted by the policy of ten years service for MoE FIRST!

I only wish if the teachers are given due human respect to pursue their enthusiasm and interest along with their talent after serving in the profession at least for five years. What ever done is surely done for good purpose and all know the spirit of the policy – it is for retaining the teachers in the job. But more than that, at times, to consider the human interest and their efficacy in performance with and without motivation must be looked into in depth. The retaining measure found in this policy is bit punitive and not really amiable to the abiders. Teachers are law abiding citizens; they deserve to be free in all their pursuits. 

If this is the approach the government has found to keep the teachers tied to their profession and fights the teacher-shortage-issue, the government also has to find this line of attraction to bring influx of new generation into teaching profession in deluge. This profession is by no means attractive to the people of our country.

Ask the youth if they want to become teacher later in their lives; surely, the percentage would score so low. See what happened with the unfilled slots for the contract teachers under Light Drukyul Project. 300 slots were announced by the Ministry: 200 general, and 100 Dzongkha language teachers of which not even half the slots announced are filled. It is not to wonder what these young Bhutanese want out of their education. It is a determiner for the authority concerned and people responsible to worry about what makes the teaching profession so ugly that it repels the youths from making it their priority profession.

The Change

When the groove turns barren
Saps bust seeds out
Grass quiver in cold breeze
Birds chirp from their nest
Water turns icy rock
Sun trudges long stride
Moon rides clear sky
Stars blossom the heaven's garden
Dirt mounts hill high
Old seats circle the fire
Men empty Bacchus's bottle
Women gossip the lost lore
Youth parades on the street
Deer mark the days with barks
We know winter is in the air.

The Invader

Night falls with soothing touch
Of mothers' songs that lulls off sleep, 
Curling up the troubled minds
Assuages with fantasies of bliss . 
Nights are brightened into light,
Time supposed for yard of grave
For the paused breath in rest, 
Changes instinct of changing beings
Defied the need of darkness green
Keeping the street busy with feet
Shakes my soul and bones of being!

I will return

As dusk paints the space dark, 

      Towards the bed the fishes fleet.    

They cajole my home in heart of mine, 

My aged parents sit and wait,

For half a dozen children bred 

Afar they dwell far to see, 

With love of self-grown and gone, 

Painting their dreams high and vast, 

Of aging parents' love and trust, 

Wrapped in blessing and the prayers. 

I shall return with the fleet

My hardened sole of blistered feet 

Resting cold on foreign land

Into the arms of aged hands

With blossom dreams and winged hopes.

Prayers for the giant souls

This world is a dome where birth is celebrated and death mourned every moment. At one home a new born is welcomed with ritualistic ceremony of showering with love and gifts, cheer and laughter; somewhere else, flowers are put at the feet of a deceased, and silence observed to mark the departure of a great soul ever lived, disregard of a kind of human one was, for everyone is special in their own ways for someone, someway, somewhere. 

His Majesty the King Bhumibo Adulyadej 

On 5th December, 2013 in Thailand, the King deeply revered and deified, His Majesty the King Bhumibol Adulyadej wore his golden robe to mark his 86th year on earth, serving his people with altruistic passion and love. In return the people regarded with the highest respect and sacred loyalty considering His Majesty non-lesser than god they pray in their prayers and hero they sing in their hymns. People from all walks of life, burying their differences, came out in harmony to celebrate the His Majesty’s Birthday, the birth of a symbol of “Oneness” for the Siamese. Four scores of his life is not enough, may he live five and eons for the people and the world as a symbol of peace and harmony, calmness and love, vision and insight, loyalty and justice, patience and compassion, and altruism and philanthropy.

Nelson Mandela 

On the same day, the world has lost His Majesty’s contemporary, a man who inspired the world with projection of high human value. Nelson Mandela, at 95 has departed for heavenly abode. He was known as the liberator of South Africa and teacher of all the nations across the world. He was a father in truest sense to make a global family by sharing his deepest belief and principal of togetherness and interdependence, equity and justice, compassion and love to be shared among the human kind destined to live on the same earth. Boundaries are just an illusory demarcation between the mankind for him, and he is the flag hoisted by the whole world in same colour and representation, human being. He would be missed by the world, but he would live in the wisdom he imparted for all, for the world. May the Gracious Soul Rest in Peace.