Lesson from Leh son: Meet Ladakh's man of hope

A STUDY IN STUDYING: Wangchuk (in check shirt) concept of education dates back to 1988.

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Keywords: Education, Sonam Wangchuk

Leh: The learning curve is changing in Ladakh. Children know school syllabus, the lessons are no longer alien and Sonam Wangchuk - the man credited with the change - looks up at these signs of progress.

“In Ladakh, education is not about three R s reading, writing and reciting (sic). The Ladakhi way of definition is - education is about three Hs: the bright head, the skilled hands and a kind heart,” says Wangchuk.

Wangchuk concept of education dates back to 1988 when he came to Ladakh as a civil engineer.

Back then, school education was not easy and Wangchuk too had been a victim of it. The medium of learning till class VIII was Urdu and then for class IX and X, there was a sudden shift to English.

The matriculate pass percentage was even below five, a worrying trend which triggered the need for a change.

“If there is 95 per cent failure, it is the system failing the problem lay much further deeper. There was language problem, trained teachers and a curriculum that made no sense at 11, 000 feet. Thinking S for ship and T for train confuse children more than clarifying concepts. We must clarify and change the system,” he says.

The change started with Operation New Hope in 1994, a movement where Wangchuk and his friend involved the local administration and the community.

They trained teachers and changed the syllabus. The books talked of local customs and surroundings.

“Old Mc Donalds would not make sense to Ladakhis so we use Me Me Tsering,” he says.

The results too started showing, the pass percentage gradually increased from five to 50 in 2002. Wangchuk even started Students Educational and Cultural movement of Ladakh (SECMOL) – a campus which runs entirely on sun and student power.