On this fourth series, I will dwell on His Majesty’s 70th and 81st - 83rd sentences.
Sentence 70th:We need to strengthen our foundation by improving the educational standards, craft policies to diversify economic opportunities for our youth, and support private sector growth.
Today the generally accepted view is that the quality of education has dropped. Nothing can be further from the truth. The reality is that the quality of educators has dropped. When institutions of learning are headed by persons who are incapable of producing a one-page certificate of fitness, what can be expected? How would they be capable of molding young minds into growing up to be responsible, disciplined, dedicated and hardworking citizens?
Sentence 81st: Foreign experts and professionals have commented that our rules, regulations, laws and institutional procedures are among the best in the world.
Sentence 82nd: Yet we are not able to reap the benefits.
Sentence 83rd: Where have we gone wrong?
Lack of enforcement, regulation and monitoring
The Bhutanese truly excel at producing paper work. We churn out hundreds of thousands of pages of rules and regulations that are among the best in the world – both in words and in content. But that is where it all ends – rules and regulations are framed and notified – then they are promptly forgotten. They are shelved and gather dust thereafter in some dingy corner of the office. Over time, we even forget that a certain rule exists.
Where have we gone wrong? Quite simply - there is no follow through, there is no monitoring, there is no regulation, and there is no enforcement. Rules are made only to look good – there is no proof that they have been formulated to achieve ends.
It is for this reason that I have been moaning for the past many years that regulators should stick to regulating and enforcement. Do not get into areas where there is bound to be conflict of interests.
One other aspect of Bhutanese governance must find mention – that of putting in place a BAN. The public employees have a simple way to ensure that they are not required to put in hard work – simply put a BAN in place. When a ban is in place, they do not need to work at monitoring or regulation or enforcement.