RESUME/CV
Thakur S POWDYEL
Date of Birth:
October 18, 1958
Permanent Address:
Maney B, Dorokha, Samtse Dzongkhag
House No. D-6-86 (New) MB/04 (Old)
Tharm No. 182 (New) 55 (Old)
Citizenship Identity Card No. 11206002602
Employment Identity Card No. 8404023
Date of Joining Service: April 14, 1984
Passport No. D000750
Present Position:
Member of Parliament, Dorokha-Tading Constituency
Member of Lhengye Zhungtsho (Cabinet)
Minister, Ministry of Education, Royal Government of Bhutan, Thimphu.
Education:
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ICSE: Samtse High School, 1976
PUC: St Anthony’s College, Meghalaya, India, 1989
BA English Hons.: St Anthony’s College, Shillong, India, 1981
MA English: North Eastern Hills University, Shillong, India, 1983
PGCE: Institute of Education, University of London, London, UK, 1985
Work Experience:
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English Teacher: Zhemgang Central School, May- June 1984.
Lecturer in English, National Institute of Education, Samtse, 1985-86
Lecturer in English, Sherubtse College, Kanglung, 1986-88
Vice Principal, Sherubtse College, Kanglung, 1988-2001
Director, Centre for Educational Research and Development, Paro, 2001- 2007
Task Force Member, National Education Review Commission, 2007Member, Expert Committee, Dzongkha Development Commission, 2007Project Manager: An Inquiry into Teaching as a Profession in Bhutan, STEP,
2006-07
Visiting Professor, Graduate School of Asian and African Area Studies, Kyoto
University, Japan, October 2006-January 2007.
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Professional Service:
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Consultant to the Planning Commission, for final editing of the VIII National Five
Year Plan documents – 1997-2002
Advisor and promoter, Community Out-Reach Project, Sherubtse College, 19862001
Consultant to the Dzongkha Development Commission, to prepare DzongkhaEnglish Dictionary, 2002
Consultant to Dzongkha Development Authority, to produce English- Dzongkha
Dictionary, 2003-05.
Curriculum development support to CAPSD, Education
Professional support to NIE, Paro
Member: National Task Force, National Educational Assessment, BBE
Certified IELTS Examiner, British Council/Cambridge University/IDE Australia
Chair: CAPSD English Subject Committee, English Curriculum Review and
Revision Task Force.
Chair: Institute Research Committee, Paro College of Education.
Resource Person: Several Professional Development Programmes for Teachers
Member: Dzongkha Expert Committee, Dzongkha Development Commission.
Vice Chairman, Royal Education Council, Thimphu, 2008-.
Vice Chairman, Dzongkha Development Commission, 2008Chairman, National Commission for UNESCO, 2008Chairman, National Commission for Women and Children, 2008-
Participation in Conferences and Presentations:
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Delegation Leader: UNESCO International Conference on Disarmament, Peace
and Security, New Delhi, 1985
Delegation Leader: International Youth Conference on Creating a Caring Society,
Panchgani, Maharashtra, India, 1985
Delegation Leader: SAARC Writers’ Conference, Calcutta, 1986
Professional Associate: Intercultural Communications Workshop, East-West
Centre, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA, 1988
Paper Presenter: The Context of Higher Education: International Seminar on
Higher Education: Challenges for the 21 Century, United Nations University,
Tokyo, Japan, 1997
Paper Presenter: Scope and Levels of People’s Participation: Coronation
Silver Jubilee Seminar on Good Governance, RIM, Thimphu, 1999
International Visitor Year guest, the State Department, USA, 1999
Paper Presenter: Gross National Happiness: Programme for MetaDevelopment: SDA-Seminar on Gross National Happiness, Amsterdam, the
Netherlands, 2001
Participant: Capacity Building for National Educational Assessment workshop,
Colombo, Sri Lanka, 2002
Participant: Capacity Building for National Educational Assessment workshop,
IIEP, Paris, 2002
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Paper Presenter: Drukgyel Dzong: the Two Faces, IV Colloquium on the
History of Dzongs: the National Museum of Bhutan, National Commission for
Cultural Affairs.
Paper Presenter: Foundations and Scope of Gross National Happiness: A
Layman’s Perspective: International Seminar on Gross National Happiness,
CBS, February 2004.
Paper Presenter: Culture: Soul and Substance – Some Personal
Reflections, V Colloquium on Tangible and Intangible Culture of Bhutan,
National Museum, Department of Culture, Ministry of Home and Cultural Affairs,
March 3-5, 2005, Paro.
Editorial and Publication Experience, Others:
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Concept, promotion editing: Milestones, 2000, Sherubtse College, 2000
Editor: Gems and Jewels: An Anthology of the Royal Addresses of His Majesty
Jigme Singye Wangchuck, 2001
Principal author: The Light of My Life, 2001
Concept, promotion, editing and publication: Rabsel: the CERD education journal
Concept, promotion, editing and publication: The Call: Stories of Yesteryears,
CERD 2002
Concept, promotion, co-authorship and publication: The Silken Knot: Standards
for English for Schools in Bhutan, CERD 2002.
Concept, promotion, editing and publication: Yontoen – the CERD Occasional
Papers
Concept, promotion, editing and publication: View & Vision: Examples of good
Practice, under preparation.
Editor: PhD theses, several documents, books, articles
The Bhutanese Educational Assessment Experience: Some Personal Reflections,
Open File Prospectus, UNESCO, March 2005.
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From Innocence to Passion: Bhutan’s Tryst with Education: Some Reflections,
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Bhutanese National Imaginaries: Architecture, Culture, Literature: Some Aspects:
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Societies in Transition, Curtin University, Australia.
submitted to the Journal of Asian Studies, Australia.
Language by Choice: English in Bhutan, LMCS Newsletter, Leicester University,
UK, 2006.
Member: Council for the Centre for Bhutan Studies 2001Author: Several papers on development issues, gross national happiness,
education, national identity...
Promoter: Educational/academic integrity, good practice, national self-respect.
Concept, promotion, publication: Sherig Saga: Profiles of Our Seats of Learning:
A Centenary Publication, 2007.
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Distinctions:
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Best Student of the Year, Samtse High School, 1976
Sixth Rank in the Pre-University Examinations, North Eastern Hills University,
1979
Eighth Rank in the BA English Honours Examinations, College First, NEHU, 1981
Fourth Rank in the MA English Examinations, NEHU, 1983
Proposed Best National Service Student, 1984
Distinction First in Royal Civil Service (RCSC) Examinations, 1984
Recipient of First Prize: Kuensel-sponsored Millennium Essay Competition (open
category), 2000
Recipient of Second Prize: UNESCO-Special Commission Essay Competition, for
International Year of Culture, 2000
Study Visits/Conferences:
India, Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines, South Korea, Singapore, Japan, the UK,
the USA, the Netherlands, Sri Lanka, France, Canada, Nepal.
Publications:
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Essays, poems, articles, research papers.
As I Am, So Is My Nation, 2008.
Interests: Context of Development, Context of Education, Gross National Happiness,
Institutional Integrity, Moral Literacy…
Family: wife, one daughter, two sons.
Email: powdyel@gmail.com
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