Chapter · September 016 doi: 10. 1007/978-981-10-1649-3 10 citations reads 725 authors: Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects
The Capability Approach and the Educating for Gross
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| The Capability Approach and the Educating for Gross
National Happiness Initiative The relationship between the right conditions for quality and equity in education and GNH cannot be undermined. Quality education is vital to the pursuit of GNH (Tashi Zangmo 2004 ). According to Bhutan’s 2010 Gross National Happiness Survey , education is revealed as one of the highest contributors to unhappiness in the country (Karma Ura et al. 2012b ). The survey found that 90 % of the people who identifi ed as unhappy had no access to formal education, suggesting that access to quality education should be a primary concern for the EGNH initiative. Furthermore, according to the same 2010 GNH Survey, the not-yet-happy people also identifi ed their freedom to pursue education as one of their highest deprivations along with living standards and time use. This implies that the EGNH initiative, as one of the main operational frameworks of GNH, should also focus on how the EGNH Conditions of Happiness: Bhutan’s Educating for Gross National Happiness… mattschuelka@gmail.com 146 initiative could contribute to the enhancement of well-being and GNH in the coun- try. It suggests that the EGNH initiative could focus more on the conditions for providing quality and equity in education as a way to contribute to the enhancement of well- being and happiness for the people of Bhutan part of the GNH goal. Therefore, the CA provides the EGNH initiative a theoretical perspective to address the question: How can the EGNH framework ensure that the education sys- tem provides the necessary conditions for the pursuit of GNH in Bhutan? It empha- sizes that the relationship between education and larger economic, social, and political conditions in society are synergetic; education is not only infl uenced by socio-economic and political conditions, it also infl uences factors that could enhance or impede socio-economic and political developments. It is based on this under- standing that the EGNH initiative is implemented in Bhutan and it is this relation- ship that the CA highlights as a point of focus to ensure that the relationship leads to positive developments in society. The CA expands the focus of the EGNH initia- tive to evaluate how the EGNH framework could contribute to the enhancement of capabilities of students to achieve GNH in Bhutan. Fundamental to this argument is the understanding that the application of the CA perspective to the EGNH initiative ensures that the EGNH framework focuses on the promotion of the right conditions for equity and quality in education in order to enhance the freedom of students to achieve valuable functionings that lead to increased well-being and happiness in society. Current educational statistics of Bhutan, however, suggests that this could be a gargantuan task for Bhutan. The education sector in Bhutan has witnessed tremendous growth. Between 1961 and 2014, the number of schools and institutes increased from 11 to 551, with matching growth in enrollment from 400 to 172,393 students (MoE 2014a ). The net and gross enrollment rates for basic education have steadily increased over the years and currently stand at 93 % and 107 %, respectively (MoE 2014a ). However, similar to the fi ndings of the OECD study ( 2012 ), which found that higher enrollments did not necessarily correspond with more learning in schools, the improvements in school enrollment in Bhutan mask the extent of disparities in the larger Bhutanese educational system. A majority of these disparities is revealed in the tải về 0.95 Mb. Chia sẻ với bạn bè của bạn:
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