Digital Literacy Initiative · 2022–2025 · Cumulative Delivery
60
Schools Covered
206
Teachers Trained
710
Laptops Distributed
310
Micro:bit Kits
11,290
Students Benefited
Three years of results, 2023–2025. Implemented by VTOB Foundation, funded by the Beat and Regula Curti Foundation through The Dariu Foundation, with the Ministry of Education and Skills Development as a full partner.
Between 2023 and 2025 the Digital Literacy Initiative put coding into the hands of primary and lower-secondary children in ordinary government schools, in some of the most remote districts of Bhutan. It did so through Bhutanese teachers, working inside the national curriculum. The programme reached 60 schools across 19 of Bhutan’s 20 dzongkhags, trained 206 teachers and delivered 710 laptops. In November 2025 the Ministry took the national coding competition over and now runs it itself. DigiGyel is the next step of the same programme.
A short film of the programme — the figures, the map, and the classrooms behind them.
60 seconds · vertical format for sharing · download
60
Schools reached
206
Teachers trained
710
Laptops
310
Micro:bit kits
11,290
Students reached
reported as 11,290+
These totals cover the 2023–2025 grant only. The 2022 pilot is reported separately below and is not included in any figure above.
An earlier, separate phase in Punakha and Wangduephodrang — not counted in the three-year grant totals.
8
Schools
16
Teachers
60
Laptops
0
Micro:bit kits
Student numbers for the pilot are not stated in the Impact Report and are therefore not shown.
Each round ran seven days, nine to five, blending face-to-face instruction with online work. Every teacher left with laptops and micro:bits for their school, and an action plan for a code club.
| Round | Dates and venue | Teachers | Schools | Coverage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Round 1 | Tshongdu Boutique, Paro (8-14 July 2023) | 35 | 10 | Gasa, Punakha, Wangduephodrang |
| Round 2 | February 2024 | 67 | 18 | Eastern dzongkhags |
| Round 3 | Bajo HSS, Wangduephodrang (18-24 February 2025) | 104 | 32 | 11 dzongkhags and 3 thromdes |
Each measure is on its own scale — they are not comparable on a shared axis. The 2022 pilot is shown for context and labelled as such.
Students are not broken down by year in the Impact Report, which states a programme total of more than 11,290 children reached across 2023–2025.
The design approved in 2023 promised 710 laptops, 195 teachers, 7,600 students and 38 schools over three years. Every commitment was met; on teachers, schools and children it delivered more.
Teachers trained
Target metLaptops delivered
Target metSchools reached
Target metStudents reached
Target metForty-eight students from 24 schools presented at Wangdue Primary School for the west and Trashigang Middle Secondary School for the east. Close to 190 projects were catalogued. Children coded the national flag, a Buddhist stupa, a waste-management animation, a campus map, a temperature monitor, and an automatic chair for someone who needs help standing.
The Ministry of Education and Skills Development took the competition over and ran it itself for Classes III–VIII. Not one of the ten winning schools was a Thimphu elite school: first places went to Sherab Gatshel MSS in Samtse and Drametse MSS in Mongar. A donor-funded pilot had become a fixture of the national school calendar.
An independent student survey across ten dzongkhags found girls participating in exactly equal numbers to boys, and a third of students active for more than a year. In a sector where women are systematically under-represented across South Asia, that is the finding worth pausing on.
Lingzhi Lower Secondary School sits at roughly 4,000 metres in the northern highlands, reachable only on foot or by horse. It received five laptops and five micro:bits, and two of its teachers completed the full seven-day training.
Photographs from the DLI Bhutan Impact Report 2023–2025.
61 schools recorded across 20 dzongkhags.
61 schools across 20 of Bhutan’s 20 dzongkhags
* Haa is not labelled on the source map; 2 is derived from the stated total of 61 schools.