Puran Gurung/ Thimphu “Globally competent, locally rooted” is how the opposition leader summed up his party’s take on the Bhutanese education reform that was decreed by none than His Majesty The King. Lyonpo Dorji Wangdi identified three key strategies - architecture (pathways) of education system, pedagogy and curriculum, and labour market education – as the bedrock of any reform that is put in place. “As far as I am concerned, I am very clear what we should do with regard to education reform,” he said. “There are a few things to sort out towards the success of education reform and the rest will fall in right places.” He elaborated by saying that the thrust must be on revisiting curriculum, pedagogy and learning process and assessment, development of critical thinking, creative thinking and life-long learning with added impetus on science, technology, engineering and mathematics subjects. He attributed the failure to get jobs to the lack of clear pathways in both general and technical subjects taught in the educational institutes. “As the Royal Government of Bhutan there should be only one system and not two – the O-Level must be clearly defined,” he pointed out. “The setting of pathways is the biggest problem in the education system of Bhutan.” On pedagogy and curriculum, the holistic development of human personality (enlightened citizenship) is a must. “The pedagogy and curriculum of the education system must focus on caring, dependable and honest human beings and be grounded on Bhutanese history, culture, tradition and value systems,” Lyonpo Dorji Wangdi said. “Science without humanity produces people without characters, and humanity without science also produces people without efficiency,” he added. Another important aspect of education reform must include labour market education (creation of jobs). Bhutan must re-engineer the awareness of labour market education while also focusing on employability skills in education. “We must include the concept of labour market education in middle and higher education,” he said. “Our children should not face the problems the past generations faced, the job creations should be empowered by creation of enabling factors at workspace too. Education system should be redesigned to accommodate these factors.” Additionally, the opposition leader stressed on the importance of monastic and value education. The opposition leader said his party is drawing its inspiration from His Majesty The King who said: “It’s time to recalibrate ourselves to succeed in the fast-paced world. The government, lawmakers, the private sector, the people, and experts in various fields must work collectively to chart out a clear economic roadmap for the 21st Century.” The opposition party is also working on other reforms decreed by His Majesty The King including - Human Reforms (One Nation, One People, One Vision), Economic Reforms (High Income Nation), and Civil Service Reforms (Compact, Efficient and Professional).