Bhutan has thirteen colleges [1] and two universities that are the Royal University of Bhutan (RUB) [2] and the Khesar Gyalpo University of Medical Sciences of Bhutan (KGUMSB). [3]
This is a list of universities and colleges in Bhutan.
Thimphu is the capital and largest city of Bhutan. It is situated in the western central part of Bhutan, and the surrounding valley is one of Bhutan's dzongkhags, the Thimphu District. The ancient capital city of Punakha was replaced by Thimphu as capital in 1955, and in 1961 Thimphu was declared as the capital of the Kingdom of Bhutan by the 3rd Druk Gyalpo Jigme Dorji Wangchuck.
Jigme Singye Wangchuck is a member of the House of Wangchuck who was the king of Bhutan from 1972 until his abdication in 2006. During his reign, he advocated the use of a Gross National Happiness index to measure the well-being of citizens rather than Gross domestic product.
Jigme Dorji Wangchuck was the 3rd Druk Gyalpo of Bhutan.
The Kingdom of Bhutan is divided into 20 districts. Bhutan is located between the Tibet Autonomous Region of China and India on the eastern slopes of the Himalayas in South Asia.
The Royal University of Bhutan, founded on June 2, 2003, by a royal decree, is the national university of Bhutan. It is the first and the oldest university in Bhutan.
Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck is the Druk Gyalpo, the monarch of the Kingdom of Bhutan. After his father Jigme Singye Wangchuck abdicated the throne, he became the monarch on 9 December 2006. A public coronation ceremony was held on 6 November 2008, a year that marked 100 years of monarchy in Bhutan.
The Royal Bhutan Police is the national police force of the Kingdom of Bhutan. It is responsible for maintaining law and order and prevention of crime in Bhutan. It was formed on 1 September 1965 with 555 personnel reassigned from the Royal Bhutan Army. It was then called the "Bhutan Frontier Guards." Its independent statutory basis was first codified with the Royal Bhutan Police Act of 1980. This framework was repealed and replaced in its entirety by the Royal Bhutan Police Act of 2009.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Bhutan:
Western-style education was introduced to Bhutan during the reign of Ugyen Wangchuck (1907–26). Until the 1950s, the only formal education available to Bhutanese students, except for private schools in Ha and Bumthang, was through Buddhist monasteries. In the 1950s, several private secular schools were established without government support, and several others were established in major district towns with government backing. By the late 1950s, there were twenty-nine government and thirty private primary schools, but only about 2,500 children were enrolled. Secondary education was available only in India. Eventually, the private schools were taken under government supervision to raise the quality of education provided. Although some primary schools in remote areas had to be closed because of low attendance, the most significant modern developments in education came during the period of the First Development Plan (1961–66), when some 108 schools were operating and 15,000 students were enrolled.
The Royal Institute of Health Sciences (RIHS) is one of two main medical education centers in Bhutan, the other being the Institute of Traditional Medicine Services. It was established in Thimphu in 1974, as a member college of the Royal University of Bhutan, and is associated with the National Referral Hospital. It offers diploma and certificate programmes for nurses, medical technicians and other primary health care workers. The institute received the World Health Organization's 50th Anniversary Award for Primary Health Care in 1998.
The National Referral Hospital is the public hospital of Bhutan, located in the capital of Bhutan, Thimphu. Since it was established in 1972, the hospital has been supplying free basic medical treatment as well as advanced surgeries and emergency services to citizens from all over the country. It provides the most sophisticated health evaluation and management services in the country. Recently the hospital has added CT and MRI diagnosis equipment and improved lab services. The hospital has a library with many current textbooks.
Royal Thimphu College is a private college in Thimphu, Bhutan under the Royal University of Bhutan. It is Bhutan's first private college.
Tshering Tobgay is a Bhutanese politician, environmentalist, and cultural advocate who is the Prime Minister of Bhutan since 28 January 2024 and also served in office from July 2013 to August 2018. Tobgay is the leader of the People's Democratic Party, and was also the Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly from March 2008 to April 2013.
HIV/AIDS in Bhutan remains a relatively rare disease among its population. It has, however, grown into an issue of national concern since Bhutan's first reported case in 1993. Despite preemptive education and counseling efforts, the number of reported HIV/AIDS cases has climbed since the early 1990s. This prompted increased government efforts to confront the spread of the disease through mainstreaming sexually transmitted disease (STD) and HIV prevention, grassroots education, and the personal involvement of the Bhutanese royal family in the person of Queen Mother Sangay Choden.
The College of Natural Resources, Royal University of Bhutan is a college offering courses on natural resources management, that include organic agriculture, animal science, environment and climate, food science and technology, forest science and sustainable development The college is located in Lobesa, Punakha District, in central west Bhutan. The college campus is spread over 98 acres (40 ha) on the eastern slope of Lobesa and is about 140 km (87 mi) away from the Paro International Airport.
Lopen Karma Phuntsho is a former monk and Bhutanese scholar who specialises in Buddhism, Tibetan & Himalayan Studies and Bhutan, and has published a number of works including eight books, translations, book reviews and articles on Buddhism, Bhutan and Tibetan Studies. His The History of Bhutan has been called "the first book to offer a comprehensive history of Bhutan in English" and received Choice Outstanding Academic Title Award in 2015.
Dasho Sonam Kinga is a Bhutanese politician and researcher at the Center for Bhutan Studies. He played the monk in the 2003 film Travellers and Magicians, for which he is also credited as a dialogue coach.
Lhaki Dolma is a Bhutanese actress and politician who has been a member of the National Council of Bhutan, since May 2018.
LyonphoThakur Singh Powdyel is a Bhutanese politician and educator of Nepali descent. He served as Minister of Education from 2008 to 2013, overseeing the Green Schools program as a part of the implementation of Gross National Happiness in Bhutan. He is currently the president of Royal Thimphu College.
The Khesar Gyalpo University of Medical Sciences of Bhutan (KGUMSB) (Dzongkha: གེ་སར་རྒྱལ་པོ་གསོ་རིག་གཙུག་ལག་སློབ་སྡེ) is a medical university located in Thimphu, Bhutan. Founded in 2013, it is the first medical university to be established in Bhutan.