Bhubaneswar: Sonam Wangchuk is not just an education reformist. The Ramon Magsaysay Award winner is spearheading a mission to save Ladakh from the effects of climate change. During an interaction with students at SAI International School here, he said there can no bigger harm to Ladakh region than the changing environment.
Dressed casually to highlight the merits of living a simple life, Wangchuk appealed to the students to pledge to “live simply so as to let us (in the hills) simply live”.
A prominent civil right activist from Ladakh, Wangchuk came into prominence through the Aamir Khan starrer Hindi blockbuster 3 Idiots. Aamir’s character was loosely inspired by him. He is an engineer by profession and an innovator, whose art of using pure science seamlessly for solving challenges faced by people in the cold deserts of Ladakh, has endeared him to one and all.
No wonder then, today he is a celebrated figure. When he took to the stage at the SAI campus here, he received a rock star like welcome. His art of perfecting the alternative education system is a case study in academic circles.
“Where education is most needed, it is for the parents and the public. When the parents realise that alternative education is good education, they will demand such an education,” he said to a question by a student.
The Alternative School, Students’ Educational and Cultural Movement of Ladakh (SECMOL), founded by him, has become a role model for various educationists. It is a school run and managed by the students. The success of this school lies in transforming students into bright minds who have, otherwise, failed in the conventional system of education.
He agreed that the Indian education system focuses on toppers and ignores a failed student. Replying to a student, he said, “people who do not fail, do not do much. Failure is a great learning time. The nation has to change its outlook and it will happen when people like us understand it. Failure should be celebrated as an attempt to succeed rather than being unsuccessful”.
Earlier, delivering the 21st lecture of the ‘Odisha Knowledge Hub’, he underlined the importance of innovation, entrepreneurship and partnership for transforming education and lives of the people.
He said the community must find solutions to its problems without waiting for it to come from New Delhi or New York.
He exuded confidence that his alternative model of education system in Ladakh can be replicated and can work in other parts of the country. It was time, he said, that education is transformed from the present practice of ‘reading, writing and arithmetic to ‘bright head’, ‘kind heart’ and ‘skilled hands’.
“I have heard about many good happenings in Odisha today. The government is laying emphasis on innovation and transformation. The state has created an excellent institution of a listening window at the highest level of the government, which is rarely found in other places,” he said.
