February 16: Only 88% of class XII students managed to get through in English subject. The Secretary of the Bhutan Board of Examinations Dr. Phub Rinchen said this is a concern.

The secretary of the Bhutan Board of Examination Dr. Phub Rinchen said it is difficult to pin point out the reasons. He said in the previous years, the pass percentage in English subject was in the nineties.

"In terms of quality we look at the mean mark of the students and this we are a bit concern about performance in English. Again this could be because of many reasons like the way students are taught in the school and the syllabus," he said.

The syllabus was changed in 2006. The Director of School Education Tshewang Tandin said the change in the syllabus and the increasing number of students may have had some impact on the performance.

A teacher told BBS, the percentages are not justified in the view of the skill talents of the students. They specially deserve better deal.

"I can talk specifically in the contest of English having dealt with students for many years. The new syllabus I feel has bitten off more that it can chew. It is very ambitious, experimental and it appears that the new syllabus is aimed only at the outstanding group of students," he said.

Another teacher said, the new curriculum is all about skills and is different from the previous method of teaching that is from content based. It is activity oriented and will hopefully improve with time.