𝗩-𝗧𝗢𝗕 𝗧𝗵𝘂𝘀 𝗙𝗮𝗿 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗕𝗲𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗱

𝗩-𝗧𝗢𝗕 𝗧𝗵𝘂𝘀 𝗙𝗮𝗿 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗕𝗲𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗱 𝙒𝙚𝙡𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙚𝙘𝙝 𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙑-𝙏𝙊𝘽 𝙬𝙚𝙗𝙨𝙞𝙩𝙚 𝙡𝙖𝙪𝙣𝙘𝙝 “Climb higher on the shoulders of past achievements- your task is not to fill old shoes or follow a well-trodden path, but to forge a new road leading towards a brighter future.” ~His Majesty the Beloved King Ladies and gentlemen, on behalf of V-TOB, I would like to welcome you all to the launch of our website. Thank you for coming. First of all, on the joyous occasion of the 113th National Day, we offer our humble prayers and wishes to our Beloved King and the Wangchuck dynasty. May Bhutan be ever glorious and peaceful. Happy National Day V-TOB dreamt of a website and here we are today- gathered in excitement, like a small child waiting to unwrap his long wished gift. The website will be the official site for all initiatives undertaken by V-TOB, including 10 Pages a Day Reading Journey. We intend to streamline everything through this website. The main aim of the website (through V-TOB) is to promote solidarity to transform challenges into endless opportunities through voluntary initiatives to enhance, supplement and complement educational opportunities and experiences. V-TOB is purely a non profit and unofficial voluntary group by teachers across the nation. It was founded on the sole purpose of volunteering with “service beyond the self.” The initiative was blessed beyond words by His Majesty the King on 8th May 2020 through a Royal Audience to the Core Team of the initiative. The team presented the initiative and it’s way forward during the blessed occasion. His Majesty motivated the initiative by showering support for the way forward of the initiative and also commanding that the group should stay in tact, even after the pandemic and school closures. V-TOB has played a humble role in providing continued education during the pandemic through our BBS video lessons, Radio Lessons and Self Instructional Material development with the support from Prime Minister’s Office, Ministry of Education and relevant stakeholders. V-TOB has carried out two rounds of donations during the pandemic. We had the privilege to present Nu. 1.246 million to the covid fund through the Prime Minister’s Office on 12 March, 2020. It was an unforgettable honour to contribute Nu. 3.292 million to His Majesty’s Kidu Fund on the occasion of Teacher’s Day 2020. The amounts came from voluntary donations offered by CDEOs, DCDEOs, Principals, Vice Principals, Teachers and Non Teaching staff from across the nation. We also had the privilege to compose, sing and release a Teacher’s Day tribute to His Majesty the King whilst celebrating the 2020 teacher’s day which was dedicated to our beloved king with the theme #MyKingMyGreatestTeacher on May 2, 2020. V-TOB tried our best to engage our children meaningfully during the pandemic through numerous online initiatives. We were invited as a social media influencer by the Prime Minister’s Office to pass information, create awareness and spread positivity during the pandemic. Reading was motivated and pushed like never before. The 10 pages a day reading journey, a reading initiative in partnership with Drukyul’s Literature Festival is a nation wide reading sensation. We have 4500 plus registered readers and 11 Free Open Libraries across Bhutan. The #KadrinchheGyaLyonBangSum national drive to offer our gratitude and support to our beloved King, government, frontliners and Bhutanese in general saw a huge wave of solidarity from Bhutanese across Bhutan and beyond. The birth of Drukyul Education Family on Facebook was an immediate off shoot of this drive. Furthermore, V-TOB dreams to sail forward by doing our best bit to come together and support better educational engagements for our children. It is also an informal platform for teachers to inspire teachers so that we have happy, creative, innovative, inspired and collaborative teaching professionals. As of now, we are consistently working on these initiatives - 10 Pages a Day Reading Journey, V-TOB བཤད་ཐོ། CONVERSATIONS, 5 Minutes of V-TOB YouTube Channel, Bhutan Children’s Reading and Writeshop, Research and Drukyul Education Family. The initiative has 4000 plus teachers on board as of December 2020. V-TOB is not at all separate entity. It is a positive force of positive change through positive initiatives, all on the principles of volunteerism. V-TOB is also open to collaboration. Lastly, we offer our heartfelt gratitude to honourable Prime Minister, Sherig Lyonpo, Dasho Secretary, Ministry of Education, Royal Education Council, BBS, Motithang HSS, Lungtenzampa MSS, and all stakeholders for the trust, support and inspiration. We are motivated to do more. On this special occasion, we would also like to thank all our colleagues for the solidarity and cooperation- let us continue to do more. We would like to Thank iBest Studios for the unwavering support since the beginning and especially in realizing the website dream. V-TOB is ever grateful to our supporters and well wishers for the continued inspiration and motivation. We would have loved to have you all here but we couldn’t, owing to the pandemic. Once more, we would like to thank everyone for your time today and we look forward to your continued guidance and support- kadrinche. Have a pleasant evening. Let us do more and together we can! Palden Drukpa Gyelo Sonam Norbu Teacher, Lobesa LSS, Punakha