A Dzongkha Debate Competition was held among the 23 Bhutan Baccalaureate Schools. The competition was divided into two developmental stages: a Primary School Dzongkha Debate for students in Developmental Stage III (grades 4 to 6) and a Middle Secondary Dzongkha Debate for students in Stage V (grades 9 to 10).

This report presents the details of the Primary School Dzongkha Debate and the Middle Secondary School Dzongkha Debate, as well as an analysis of each programme. The analysis of the programmes was developed using the insightful reflections submitted by the participating students.

Overview of The Primary School Dzongkha Debate

The Primary School Dzongkha Debate was organised by the Dzongkha Domain Heads and teachers of Zangkhar Primary School and Tshaphel Lower Secondary School. The debate aimed at promoting the use of Dzongkha and facilitating the exchange of knowledge and ideas among the Bhutan Baccalaureate Schools. A total of 14 schools participated in the programme. Each school was represented by 2 students from grades 4-6. Due to geographical and physical constraints, the Primary School Dzongkha Debate was conducted virtually via Zoom.

The Primary School Dzongkha Debate consisted of two rounds: a preliminary round and a final round. In the preliminary round, the 14 participating schools were randomly divided into two groups: for the motion and against the motion. The topic of the debate for the preliminary round was “Education is more important than wealth”. Group 1 supported the motion, while Group 2 opposed it. While the schools participated in groups, they were assessed based on their individual performance. The preliminary round was conducted on Monday, 3rd April, 2023.

6 schools with the highest scores from the preliminary round were then selected to go through to the final round of the Primary School Dzongkha Debate. As with the preliminary round, the 6 schools were randomly divided into two groups: Group 1 supported the motion, while Group 2 opposed it. The topic of the debate for the final round was ‘Schools can benefit from allowing students to use mobile phones as it can contribute to the development of their Cerebral Area’. Here too, the schools were assessed based on their individual performance. The final round of the Primary School Debate was conducted on Monday, 10th April 2023.

Overview of The Middle Secondary School Dzongkha Debate

The Middle Secondary School Dzongkha Debate was organised by the Dzongkha Domain Heads and teachers of Jakar HSS and Phuntshothang MSS and conducted on 8th April 2023. The debate aimed at promoting the use of Dzongkha and facilitating the exchange of knowledge and ideas among the Bhutan Baccalaureate Schools. A total of 19 schools participated in the programme. Each school was represented by 1 student from grade 9 or 10. Due to geographical and physical constraints, the Primary School Dzongkha Debate was conducted virtually via Zoom.

Given the large number of participants, the Middle Secondary School Dzongkha Debate was facilitated through two simultaneous debates. The participating schools were divided into 2 different groups within which the debate was held. The topic of the debate for both groups was “Is it necessary to go abroad to sustain our livelihood?”. Within each group, schools were further divided into 2 subgroups where Group 1 supported the motion, while Group 2 opposed it. Although the panel of judges for the two groups was different, both groups were assessed based on the same assessment criteria. Similarly, while the schools participated in groups, they were assessed based on their individual performance.