SchoolBackground

“I think our new beloved school is going to be one of the jewels of the future of Bhutan or at least we should make it one of the real jewels of the Thimphu valley”.                                                           –Late His Majesty King Jigme Dorji Wangchuck’s prophetic vision for Yangchenphug. 

Yangchenphug had a hallowed inception in April 1965. All India Radio broadcast the momentous beginning on April 14^th1965:  

“Less than three miles from the new Dzong, Bhutanese workers are busy constructing Bhutan’s first Public School…a pointer to the carefully thought out blending and balancing of the old and the new that is so much the government ‘s concern in shaping Bhutan’s future. The new school will be the main source for the flow of doctors, engineers… The school will also afford opportunities to the students to learn about and take pride in their country’s history and culture.” 

Yangchenphug was initially a co- educational residential school, having classes kindergarten to four, with an enrollment of 91 students and faculty of 6 teachers at the inception.  

Affiliation was obtained some years later to the council for the Indian School Certificate examinations, New Delhi, India.  The Council for the Indian School Certificate was established by University of Cambridge (England), Local Examinations Syndicate, with the assistance of the Inter- State Board for Anglo - Indian Education, in India. In the '70s Yangchenphug had a student strength of about 250.

During 1972-75 the Indian School Certificate Examinations (class XI) were held in Yangchenphug.

In 1975 the class X Indian Certificate of Secondary Educations commenced and continues to this day as Bhutan Certificate of Secondary Education Examination.

The institution celebrated its Silver Jubilee of profound achievement in 1990.Coinciding with the silver jubilee celebrations, Indian School Certificate (Class XII) examinations were introduced; the first batch appeared for its ISC examination in March 1992.

During the early '90s the student number steadily rose to about 500 primarily boarders and some day scholars.

In 1994 Yangchenphug became a day school, abandoning boarding traditions, to cope with admission pressure; hostel buildings were transformed to classrooms to accommodate teeming numbers.

A generation of Bhutanese students appeared for ICSE (Class X) conducted by the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations. Bhutan Board of Examinations, coming of age, has been independently conducting the BCSE (Class X) since 1999. A joint Bhutan Board - Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (BB-ICSE) was conducted earlier. 

ISC (Class XII) examinations continued to be conducted by the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations. By special arrangement with the Council, the erstwhile ISC (ClassXII) examinations, held in March every year, was brought forward to December since 2001. However from 2006, BBE took over ISC (class XII) and renamed it as BHSEC (Bhutan Higher Secondary Education Certificate Examinations).

Today, Yangchenphug plays a paramount role in national affairs: as the largest higher secondary school, with grades 9 to 12, a total strength of about 1500 students and over 60 teachers. 

Yangchenphug is renowned for a plethora of co-curricular activities, a long list of clubs to promote and sustain juvenile interests and hobbies – to provide a nurtured niche for the child in a society reeling before the onslaught of modernization. Preservation of national values is accorded highest priority.

[Former Heads and First set of Teachers]