During my trip in Bhutan, I asked my guide to show me a deaf school since I am deaf myself. There are two deaf schools in the small kingdom of Bhutan, one of them being near Paro, on the way to Drukgyel monastery, about ten kilometres from Paro.
The deaf school is actually in a small building separated from the rest of a big secondary school. The first classroom was opened in September 2003, with three deaf students. In 2005, they were 14, split in two classrooms (first and second grade). All students are between 7 and 16 years old and are supervised by five deaf adults, two hearing teachers and a sign language researcher.
Before 2003, there was no Bhutanese Sign Language. To create a new national Sign Language, five deaf adults were reunited and tried to establish a way to communicate. They were asked by the Sign Language researcher to create basic signs for concrete words such as "fruits", "vegetables", etc. The word creation process was partly influenced by the researcher's knowledge of American Sign Language, and nowadays, American Sign Language is used for numbers and spelling words.
Classes are taught in English only (as it is the compulsory language in all Bhutanese schools). Dzongkha, the national language is only taught as a second language at school.
When I visited the deaf school, teachers were trying to teach literacy and mathematics to children with moderate success.
I was highly impressed by the courage of the teachers and of the kids and how a Bhutanese Sign Language emerged in just a few years without having existed previously.