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Construction of the first “School for
Hearing-impaired (deaf-mute) Children with Hostels for Girls and Boys”
in Drukyel near Paro
The project agreement was signed by Harald Nestroy with the Bhutanese Education Ministry
in November 2002.
This special school will be combined with the Lower Secondary and the Higher Secondary School already existing in Drukyel:
the objective is to integrate the hearing-impaired children from the beginning with the non-handicapped children for the obvious
benefits of both. In the context of our project, The Royal Bhutan Government has ordered a Bhutanese sign language for the
hearing-impaired to be developed. UNICEF and the German Christoffel Mission for the Blind have carried out this important
task. The new sign language has already been taught to teachers who during the time of construction of the “Pro Bhutan”
buildings, have started teaching the first group of 23 hearing-impaired children in improvised class rooms. They will be integrated
into the lessons of the non-impaired children in the primary and the secondary schools after a period of transition in the
school for the hearing-impaired which is to be kept as short as possible.
After extensive research and planning, the construction of the Drukyel complex has started in
April 2006 . The school buildings were inaugurated by Her Majesty Queen Tshering Pem Wangchuck and Harald Nestroy on November
24, 2007.
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The 2 school buildings |
HM Queen Tshering Pem Wangchuck and H. Nestroy after unveiling the inauguration plaque |
HM Queen Tshering Pem Wangchuck and H.Nestroy during the
ceremony
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HM Queen Tshering Pem Wangchuck with hearing-impaired children in class |
HM Queen Tshering Pem Wangchuck with a girl learning how
to write |
The corresponding hostels for girls and boys will be completed hopefully in April 2008 so that the children eventually can
move into their long expected new homes.
This project is mainly financed by the German NGO “Star hours – We help children”, the humanitarian association
held by the Bavarian Television, Munich.
“Pro Bhutan” (which is financing the remainder) and the hearing-impaired children in Bhutan would be very grateful
for Your donation, in particular as the construction costs in Bhutan have risen exorbitantly since the signing of the agreement.
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