By Tila Maya Kharka | Asst. Communications Officer
Workshop on Nurturing Student Representatives (6- 8 May 2024)
Bhutan Centre for Media and Democracy (BCMD) will be implementing the project, Project Mikhung 2.0 - ‘Capacitating the Local Government and Citizens to Strengthen People-Centred Planning’, in Tsirang dzongkhag (district). Towards this, a team from BCMD led by the Executive Director undertook a scoping mission to the dzongkhag and met the District Administration (Local Government Administration) team, led by the Dasho Dzongrab and Sector Heads on March 29. The project objectives, target beneficiaries (students in the schools in the locality), activities and project timeline was presented to the district officials, and their support was solicited for the project’s successful implementation.
Thus its first activity, to equip educators with the necessary tools and strategies to foster a Democratic School Culture and Empower Student Representatives, Training of Trainers (ToT) Workshop on Nurturing Student Representatives commenced in May (Date: 6 to 8). The workshop was attended by 28 teachers from nine schools within Tsirang district.
The session emphasised the significance of cultivating a Democratic School Culture as a foundational step towards nurturing well-informed and responsible citizenry of the future. Participants identified existing practices of a Democratic School Culture, including student participation in decision-making, involvement of student body representatives in all school administration meetings, school leadership election, and community involvement. The initiative seeks to promote active student participation and foster civic engagement within educational institutions in order to ensure sustainability of the intervention. The participants were introduced to tools for fostering an inclusive, participatory and democratic culture in the school environment.
Examples from various schools highlighted the importance of parental engagement and inclusivity in fostering a democratic ethos within the school environment so that informed decisions are made. One of the participants praised the idea of including student leaders' opinions in school policies and involving them in coordination meetings as a way to teach democratic values to students and making them take responsibility for the decisions that have been drawn up consultatively.
Without losing momentum, the trained teachers will further conduct step-down training in their respective schools. After this training, the same participants will undergo another training on community mapping, thus equipping them with the skills to map their community, identify issues in the community and take initiatives to tackle the issues. A small seed money will be provided to the school to carry out the initiative.
This workshop aims to create a stronger sense of community ownership and enhance inclusive planning to truly reflect the needs and aspirations of the people. The project will also cover activities related to media literacy programmes that will be delivered through the democracy clubs in schools.
Bhutan Centre for Media and Democracy (BCMD) in Partnerships
BCMD convened two- rounds of consultation with six CSOs on April 8 and 17 of 2024 to co-create an upcoming programme on Inclusive Service Delivery. The primary objective of the consultation is to tailor the event effectively in expressing the diverse needs of the service recipients, namely the vulnerable groups and enable service providers in particularly enhancing their services to cater to the needs of the vulnerable groups, such as Persons with Disabilities, women and children in difficult circumstances, youth in conflict with the law, senior citizens and the LGBT+ community.
The CSOs, namely, Respect, Educate, Nurture and Empower Women (RENEW), Phensem Parents Support Group (PPSG), Royal Society for Senior Citizens (RSSC), Disabled People’s Organisation of Bhutan (DPO), Draktsho, Pride Bhutan and Ability Bhutan Society (ABS) participated in the consultation.The final event will be held on 31st May in Thimphu and will cover presentations and deliberations on accessibility of public services by the various vulnerable groups, besides a presentation on a success story presentation by one of the service providers. In addition, a presentation on Access to Justice for the Vulnerable Groups will also be made by the JSW Law School to inform both the service providers and recipients on the legal framework and accessing legal justice services appropriately.
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