Gross national happiness and challenges for education in Bhutan: Perspectives of policy experts

Nations, institutions and researchers worldwide are increasingly demanding their governments set out a systemic change to humanise the present order of the world. In Bhutan, introducing a Gross National Happiness (GNH) philosophy in the 1970s and applying GNH indicators in the early 2000s was a deliberate attempt to embed Bhutanese values into national governance structures. For Bhutan, GNH provides a focus to ensure developed policies stemming from international agendas are humane. The nationwide happiness index, constructed every five years, measures people's happiness level through nine domains consisting of 33 indicators by a GNH survey of all Bhutanese citizens. The latest survey indicates that citizens perceive education as making the lowest contribution to the GNH index. This study examines the perception of key policy actors gathered through interview and outlines three key challenges for policy architects implementing happiness-focused governance policies with implications for education. The paper concludes with observations on educational implications for Bhutan and other countries seeking to replicate a national focus on happiness