October 24: The 13th Education conference for Lhuntse dzongkhag was also held last week. The discussions focused on prevention of school drop outs and use of corporal punishment in schools.

During the meeting the participants discussed the implementation of the decisions made in the previous education conference.

The District Education Officer Kinley Gyeltshen informed the meeting that 48 students have dropped out of school this year alone. He asked the teachers to help prevent students from leaving school and to advise both students and parents. He said most of the students leaving school come from financially disadvantaged background.

To prevent students from dropping out of school a dzongkhag school support fund was established in 2005 with contributions from business community members, teachers and schools in the Dzongkhag.

The meeting also discussed the use of corporal punishment in schools. Corporal punishment is banned by the Education Ministry but it is still prevalent in most schools.

The Lhuntse Drangpoen who attended the second day of the meeting as a guest said corporal punishment is not allowed under the Bhutan Penal Code.

Principals of 25 schools and education officials attended the meeting.