The Inception and Implementation of the EGNH Initiative

142
et al.
2012a
,  
b
). Consistent with these views, in 2009, the EGNH initiative was 
launched at a weeklong international educators’ conference held in Bhutan (MoE 
 
2010
,  
2012b
). Most of the major education stakeholders of Bhutan, as well as the 
then-Prime Minister and Education Minister, were present at the conference. The 
conference was used as a platform to formulate how the EGNH initiative could be 
implemented in Bhutan’s schools to promote GNH in the country.
In the absence of an overarching national legal framework for education such as 
a National Education Policy or an Education Act, the EGNH initiative acts as one of 
the primary national frameworks for education in Bhutan, along with the Education 
Blueprint, 2014–2024  (MoE
2014b
 ). Hence, since 2010, the EGNH initiative has 
been formally launched as a national education movement. In 2010, three national 
workshops were held to familiarize all school principals or their representatives in 
Bhutan with EGNH (MoE
2012b
 ). A survey was conducted during these workshops 
to assess principals’ knowledge of practices related to GNH (Hayward et al.
2010
 ). 
In order to fulfi ll the goal of providing every teacher in Bhutan with training on 
EGNH, a series of workshops on how to educate for GNH were to be provided each 
year (MoE
2012a
). Subsequently, a one-year and three-year target was set for all 
school principals and teachers, respectively, in Bhutan (Coleman and Hayward 
 
2010
 ). In 2012, measures were also taken to infuse GNH in colleges, including the 
teacher education institutes (Young
2012
 ; MoE
2014b
). 
In support of the EGNH initiative, the Ministry of Education ( 
2010
) developed a 
guideline titled
Educating for GNH: A Guide to Advancing Gross National 
Happiness [the Guide] as one of the outcomes of the workshops. The Guide spells 
out the main focus of EGNH as the promotion of “ways in which GNH values and 
principles could be transmitted through every day school behavior” (MoE
2010
 , 
p. 6). Two years later, the Ministry of Education ( 
2012b
 ) also developed a manual 
titled Educating for GNH: A Training Manual [the Training Manual] to serve as a 
workshop manual for trainers. Similar to the Guide, the Training Manual specifi es 
its purpose as providing training “to strengthen the competencies of teachers to 
infuse, integrate and promote GNH in the entire school system” (MoE
2012b
, p. 
viii). Both offi cial documents of the EGNH initiative specify the infusion of GNH 
principles and values through curricular and pedagogical approaches as the primary 
focus of the EGNH initiative. While both documents do not provide a specifi c defi -
nition for GNH values and principles, the references to GNH values and principles 
appear to be based on practices and concepts that relate to the four pillars of GNH. 
The interest and focus on the infusion of GNH values and principles as part of 
the EGNH initiative continues to grow in Bhutan. In recent years, a few researchers 
have explored the impact of the EGNH initiative in Bhutan. Kezang Sherab et al. 
( 
2014
 
; chapter “ 
 
Teacher Understanding of the Educating for Gross National 
Happiness Initiative
 ”, this volume) studied the effi cacy of a school in implementing 
the EGNH initiative in Bhutan and found that the success of the school in promoting 
GNH values and principles were attributed mainly to its extra-curricular programs
and not its regular curriculum programs. Similarly, Ahonen et al. ( 
2013
) explored 
Pema Tshomo
mattschuelka@gmail.com

143
the implementation of the EGNH initiative by looking at teachers’ perception about 
GNH and sustainable development in Bhutan. They found that while there were 
similarities between GNH and sustainable development, Bhutan has also made sig-
nifi cant progress in promoting GNH values through school curriculum and class-
room practices as part of the EGNH initiative. Both studies focused on the evaluation 
of the infusion and promotion of GNH values and principles in Bhutan’s schools 
through assessments of teacher experiences, teaching strategies, and school curricu-
lum. This focus is consistent with the purpose of the EGNH initiative highlighted in 
the Guidelines (MoE
2010
 ) and the Training Manual  (MoE
2012b
 ). In this regard, 
it appears that there is little focus on how the EGNH framework promotes the right 
conditions – learning environments, access to schools, facilities available in schools, 
etc. – for quality and equity in education to enhance the capabilities of students to 
lead a life of well-being and happiness. The EGNH initiative, as an extension of 
GNH, should ensure that the right conditions, as stated in the Constitution of Bhutan, 
are promoted through the education system to enable the pursuit of GNH in 
society.

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