Governance of Community-Based Ecotourism in Bhutan: A Case Study of Nabji Trail in Jigme Singye Wangchuck National Park

A limitation of Bhutan’s controlled tourism policy of “high value, low impact” is that its benefits have not extended to rural communities in remote places. To provide such opportunities, a pilot project on community-based ecotourism known as the “Nabji Trail” was developed and opened in Jigme Singye Wangchuck National Park (JSWNP) in November 2006. The trail involves a walking tour across six villages including two ethnic groups, Monpa and Khengpa. Several tourism enterprises, including employment as porters, guides, cooks, selling handicrafts and providing cultural entertainment, are offered by local residents to raise income. Ten percent of all tourism earnings are required to be deposited into separate Community Development Funds (CDF) for the purpose of sharing benefits more widely. The funds as well as other tourism tasks are governed through village- level “Community Tourism Management Committee” (CTMC). The few studies to date of the Nabji Trail have been fairly positive, although there has been a suggestion that governance issues may pose problems. This study aimed to provide an indepth analysis of governance of the Nabji ecotourism trail with particular attention to the operation of the “Community Tourism Management Committee” (CTMC), and the distribution and benefits of the “Community Development Funds” (CDF) across the six participating villages. It also sought to understand household benefit and involvement in ecotourism in the context of their broader household livelihood activities. Questionnaires were developed and administered through personal interviews by the author to a random sample of 33% (N=68) of the total households in the six villages along the Trail, and to all available CTMC members (N=12). Data also included personal observations of conditions along the trail. Participation as well as economic benefit was higher among households in the three Monpa villages compared to households in the three Khengpa villages. This is because household food security is higher and alternative income earning opportunities are more available for Khengpa households. Four cross-cutting issues were found to influence tourism governance capabilities in the the six villages: e 1) lack of stable participation of Community Tourism Management Committee (CTMC), 2) residents distrust of CTMC due to the misuse of Community Development Funds (CDF), 3) unequal wages for porter and pack pony services between villages, and 4) delinquent payments for porter and pack pony service. Many residents view the CTMCs as inefficient and ineffectual. The evidence suggests that there are many local governance problems that warrant assistance from the extra-local partners who helped to establish the ecotourism project and are responsible for oversight, including Jigme Singye Wangchuck National Park (JSWNP), the Association of Bhutanese Tour Operators (ABTO) and the Tourism Council of Bhutan (TCB). The study recommends their involvement to conduct a comprehensive review of CDF and CTMC bylaws and practices as well as intervene on a range of other local disputes that have emerged since the project began

Examining the Effect of Tablets to Enhance Essay Writing Competencies of Primary School Students

Writing is one of the most important aspects of any standardized test all over the world. Much emphasis is hence placed on improving writing standards in schools and other forms of educational institutions. With improved technological infrastructure, digital devices such as Tablets are increasingly being used in the teaching and learning process. This study aimed to explore the effects of Tablets in supporting grade VI students to enhance narrative essay writing skills. This particular study utilised 14 sessions comprising of 50 minutes each in both control and experimental situations. The control group is a simulation of a face-to-face teaching scenario, while the students in the experimental group replicated the non-contact teaching set-up. A total of 49 grade VI students from two primary schools selected using a convenience sampling technique participated in the study. The data for the study was collected through written tests both before and after the intervention. The analyses were conducted using descriptive statistics and t-tests. The results showed that the differences in writing scores between control and experimental groups were statistically significant. Based on this finding, the use of Tablets in teaching essay writing may be considered helpful for primary schools irrespective of the school location

A Model for Teaching Critical Reading in an ESL Curriculum

This case study explores one Bhutanese ESL teacher's implementation of Freebody and Luke's four resources model (FRM) to teach critical reading (CR) in his grade-9 English classroom. A semi-structured interview was conducted with the teacher and thematically analysed to understand his initial perspectives on CR and teaching strategies. Based on his initial interview data, the researcher recommended him implementing the FRM to teach a poem of his choice from the grade-9 English curriculum in three lessons. The FRM is organised around four reader roles that engage and empower readers as text decoders, text participants, text analysts and text users. A thematic approach was used to analyse the audio recordings of the teacher's FRM implementation and written lesson reports. The study also analysed his post-implementation interview data to examine the implications and challenges of using the FRM in ESL classrooms. The study showed that the teacher found the FRM effective and practical, allowing him to scaffold and enhance his students' knowledge and skills to engage in various forms of meaning construction, learn and analyse language usage, critically engage with the text and promote literacy practices

Determinants of non-performing loans in Bhutanese financial sector

Thesis(Master) --KDI School:Master of Public Policy,2016This paper attempts to study the internal (bank specific) and external (macroeconomic) determinants of non-performing loans (NPLs) in Bhutanese financial sector using a panel data and random effect model. This study uses the data from a panel of 4 financial institutions (3 banks and 1 insurance company) engaged in lending activities and macroeconomic data covering for period from 2005 to 2014. Of the macroeconomic variables used (GDP, Unemployment rate, Inflation rate), the empirical result indicates that only GDP significantly affect the NPLs and is negatively related with the NPLs. However, contrary to most of the previous studies, the empirical analysis do not support the view that higher unemployment in the economy will lead to higher NPLs. Inflation rate is also not statistically significant and does not affect NPLs in Bhutanese financial sector. Regarding the bank specific variables, the results indicate that all variables are statistically significant in explaining the variation of NPLs. The bank specific variables used for this study are ROA, ROE, CAR, Bank Size and Loans to Asset ratio. The result indicates a negative relationship of NPLs to ROE and CAR while indicating positive relationship to ROA, Bank Size and Loans to Asset ratio.1. Introduction 2. Bhutanese Financial Sector 3. Literature Review 4. Data and Methodology 5. Data Analysis and Findings 6. Discussion and Analysis 7. Conclusion and RecommendationmasterpublishedUgyen TSHERING

Celebrating Culture and Diversity

Event Schedule: 4:30 - 7:00 p.m.The Intersection of Culture and Mental Health: Perspectives from Bhutan Dr. Sonya Lorelle and her guests from Bhutan, Nr. Nirola and Ugyen Dorji, will discuss their perspectives of the culture and the mental health issues and challenges they face in Bhutan. 7:00-7:30 p.m.Refreshments 7:30-10 p.m. Leveraging Diversity in School and in LifeIn this fun and interactive workshop, Mr. Sylvester Baugh will assist participants in expanding their understanding of culture from race and ethnicity to a total way of life

Celebrating Culture and Diversity

Event Schedule: 4:30 - 7:00 p.m.The Intersection of Culture and Mental Health: Perspectives from Bhutan Dr. Sonya Lorelle and her guests from Bhutan, Nr. Nirola and Ugyen Dorji, will discuss their perspectives of the culture and the mental health issues and challenges they face in Bhutan. 7:00-7:30 p.m.Refreshments 7:30-10 p.m. Leveraging Diversity in School and in LifeIn this fun and interactive workshop, Mr. Sylvester Baugh will assist participants in expanding their understanding of culture from race and ethnicity to a total way of life

A combined up-flow anaerobic sludge blanket and biofilter as an improved alternative on-site sanitation in urban Bhutan: lab-scale to pilot studies

University of Technology Sydney. Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology.Providing public sewerage system for all emerging towns in Bhutan is a big challenge. This study observed about 80% of urban population in Bhutan depends on the on-site sanitation comprising septic tank and soak-pit. A proper soak-pit is essential for current on-site sanitation in disposing hazardous septic tank effluent through soil treatment. However, the survey showed about 40% of the existing urban on-site sanitation in Bhutan lacks soak-pit posing a significant risk to public health and environment from septic-tank effluent discharged into the environment. Most urban plots were found impractical for soak-pit installation due to small plots, high build-up areas and compacted soil fills. This study underscored the need of an alternative on-site sanitation that does not require soak-pit for final effluent disposal. Therefore in this study, a combined up-flow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) and anaerobic biofilter (ABF) system was explored as a complete on-site wastewater treatment system to provide improved alternative to the current on-site sanitation. UASB replaces septic tank for effective treatment of blackwater while watertight ABF replaces soak-pit. Shredded waste plastic bottles is used as ABF media for further treatment of UASB effluent and greywater combined to produce final effluent that can be safely discharged to the environment without the need of a soak-pit. Currently, greywater is discharged into the drains without treatment. The use of waste plastic bottles makes biofilter not only cheaper but helps solve mounting plastic waste problem in Bhutan. Both bench-scale studies using synthetic wastewater and 1000 L/day UASB-ABF pilot-scale demonstration in Bhutan using real wastewater from 2-3 households were conducted as part of the work. These studies have shown the new treatment system is effective compared to current on-site system producing final effluent lower than 125 mg/L COD, 30 mg/L BOD and 100 mg/L TSS that meets the effluent discharge standards of Bhutan. However, E.coli removal was five log units, which suggests that with process optimisation, E.coli removal can be further enhanced. Waste plastic bottle strips, charred bamboo beads & industrial slags were also observed to be an effective biofilter comparable to the commercial media. Economic assessment indicates the capital and maintenance cost of UASB-ABF wastewater treatment system is affordable as it is not significantly higher than the current on-site sanitation system. The new system is slightly more complex but it is also an opportunity to create new wastewater service industry that provides specialised contract services contributing to Bhutan’s economy

The impact of academic performance on self-esteem among the female students studying in different colleges under Royal University of Bhutan

The current study was carried out among the female students of The Royal University of Bhutan to evaluate the relationship between academic performance and self-esteem, and the factors affecting self-esteem.  The study adopted concurrent triangulation design of mixed methodology to collect and analyse the data. A total of 491 female students participated in the survey and of which 34 of them participated in focus-group interview.  The result of the quantitative analysis showed that there is a positive relationship between academic performance and self-esteem (rho=.170, p<.05), which attests to the similar earlier findings. Qualitative analysis explored Ackerman’s nine factors influencing self-esteem. Of the nine factors influencing self-esteem, parental influence was shown to have the most effect on the participants’ self-esteem. Based on the findings, the current study made a number of recommendations