Challenges for implementing Inclusive Education in Bhutan

Achieving universal primary education for all has been realized in most of the world, yet in developing countries, only 73% of children of primary school age complete the primary school level (UNESCO, Global Education Monitoring Report 2016). These excluded children include refugees, language-minority children, children suffering from HIV/AIDS, and, at the highest percentage, children with disabilities. Providing quality education for all children regardless of gender, ethnicity, or disabilities, is undoubtedly an urgent matter, and Bhutan is not an exception. The major purpose of this paper is to uncover challenges for implementing inclusive education for children with disabilities in Bhutan. The data underlying this survey is mainly composed of questionnaires and interviews conducted in the country. The results indicate that in Bhutan, school-related factors, such as “insufficiency of appropriate facilities and equipment” and “overcapacity of teachers” are ranked high as obstacles to implement quality learning in school for children with disabilities. Similarly, some perceptional gap was found between teachers teaching at special classes or special schools and regular class teachers. Those regularly working with children with disabilities understand their ability more fully and felt stress resulting from the reality in which children with disabilities are NOT fairly treated or valued. This indicates some psychological barrier against children with disabilities as a whole.