Art plays a vital role in children’s development by enhancing self-expression, empathy and problem-solving skills. Recognising the importance of art education, a national art competition was held revolving around the theme “Impact of social media on your brain and behaviour”. The best 30 student artworks are now on display at the Miri Art Gallery in Thimphu. This exhibition is part of JICA’s partnership programme. The Department of School Education under the Ministry of Education and Skills Development and the JICA Bhutan Office are organising the exhibition.
According to the JICA Bhutan Office, beyond providing art education, the competition aimed to shed light on the pressing concern of social media’s influence on young minds.
Students explored the topic through their artwork creating awareness of the potential consequences of excessive screen time.
“Arts education in particular has become a regular school curriculum. We have started implementing this arts education in 2013. So over the years, we have seen the progression and learning for our children,” said Sonam Tshering, curriculum developer at the Center for School Curriculum Development, MoESD.
He added that art education is designed to provide learning experiences that align with the competency-based curriculum.
Additionally, the exhibition provided basic training to over 20 teachers over two days as part of the programme.
“The very objective of bringing our teachers all come with a general background, so teachers who are interested in art, so we invite them for the workshop mainly to give hands-on experiences so that they also impart the same knowledge and skills to students because that’s also going to be a part of a regular curriculum.”
“Through art, we can express what the child feels inside and we can also shape their behaviour through art classes after attending today’s training, even though I am not a well-trained art teacher a teacher needs to acquire these skills particularly how to paint, how to use brushes, the type of paper they use to paint and the colour combination,” said Kezang Choden, a teacher at Sherabgatshel Primary School.
“Being an art teacher for so many years, I have learned that it fosters the learners’ imagination and stimulates the child’s creativity and wonders. And it builds the confidence of the learner through arts. Some learners show their self-expression through art. So, I think it helps children to build up their fine mortar skills, cross mortars and even cognition development,” said Tshomo, a teacher at Dechencholing Higher Secondary School.
“I have learned that students can show their notions, thoughts and emotions through art. As teachers, we can see that different types of students who are not academically sound can do very well in art,” said Chorten Norbu, a teacher at Druk School.
Tandin Chophel, an artist, emphasised the impacts of social media on children’s thinking and how art education can help address this issue.
He has been running art classes with his friend for over four years and opened the Miri Gallery about eight months ago.
“With this collaboration with the Ministry of Education and JICA, we are mainly doing this exhibition to bring awareness and remind the country, and the people that art education can bring a great positive change to this issue about social media and its impact on mental health.”
JICA Partnership Programme is a technical cooperation programme initiated in 2017 to contribute to the social and economic development of grassroots communities in developing countries. Currently, the programme is in its second phase.
By combining art education with social media awareness, the national art competition engaged students across the country in two categories.
15 best artworks were selected from each category and the winners will be announced at the end of the month coinciding with Japan Week. The exhibition will end on 23rd October.
Devika Pradhan
Edited by Sonam Pem
