Incident

Note: The incident that I am going to narrate below took place in one of the Higher Secondary school in Bhutan. I heard it from one of my best friend and I found it worth sharing.

Before going to the actual incident, I would like to give a small background of schools in my country. Schools in Bhutan, especially in remote areas are boarding schools. Since, the villages are scattered all over the place and the very fact that Bhutan is a developing country we do not have higher secondary schools for every village. As a result, students will have to go to boarding schools for their higher studies. Upon reaching school, there are some rules and regulations in the school like any other schools in the world, which you are entitled to follow strictly. In general, boarding schools in Bhutan have rules that are almost similar to one another. Some of the rules will include restriction of the students to go out of school premises without permission from the school authorities then consumption of alcohols, cigarettes, tobacco are strictly banned. Every student have to always be in uniform in the school campus and above more everyone is to practise drig-lam-nam-zha(discipline) which indeed is the top most priority. Those students who breach the rules and regulations of the school will be subject to serious disciplinary actions, which include thrashing, detention, suspension and sometimes-even termination of the student from the school.

Here I begin with the incident. It was during the one of the busy school days where some of the girls were caught drinking some kind of alcohol by the school authorities, which was a serious issue. The girls went out of school premises without any permission and came back drunk. Since, it was a serious issue; parents of the students were called upon. However, the parents of the students who were involved in drinking were a person who holds key position in the district. Nevertheless, owing to the seriousness of the act done, it made the school authorities to call the parents of those students. Meanwhile, in order to maintain the pride and fame of the school, the authorities made all the students to work, so that when those parents come to school they can see our school clean and well organised. They made the students to cut the grasses, paper picking, sweeping of the corridors, roads, drains and the students were also made to clean the hostel rooms and surroundings. The very purpose of those parents coming to school was because of their children indulging in bad activities but then to the contrary their action made all students to work. 

It is funny in some ways because the parents coming to school was not because their children has achieved something of appreciable thing but then they were called upon so that they are aware of their children’s indulgent in bad activities, so that they can give them necessary advice and to take an undertaking on behalf of their child. Nevertheless, they were welcomed like as if their children has won something great and that they are there to witness their children’s achievement. Above more, the very fact that it made other students to work for their welcome was ridiculous indeed in my own opinion.