Making Sense of Education in High Himalayas... and the World

<strong>Centre for the Study of Social Systems School of Social Sciences </strong> Seminar Notice <strong>Dr. Sonam Wangchuk</strong> (Founder, SECMOL (Students Educational and Cultural Movement of Ladakh) a talk on <strong>Making Sense of Education in High Himalayas... and the World</strong> Date : <strong>March 13, 2015</strong> <strong>Bio-Data:</strong> Sonam Wangchuk was born in the trans-Himalayan region of Ladakh in India. Though a Mechanical Engineer by education, he has been mostly working in the field of education reform for the last 25 years. In 1988, he founded SECMOL (Students Educational and Cultural Movement of Ladakh) www.secmol.org, which aimed to reform the government school system in Ladakh. In 1994 he was instrumental in the launch of Operation New Hope, a triangular collaboration of the government, village communities and the civil society to reform the government schools. The programme involved formation of Village Education Committees, training of teachers and publishing of localised text books for Ladakh. Sonam has been on the National Governing Council of the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (Education for All) in India and has also supported the Hill Council Government in Ladakh as an advisor for education. As an engineer Sonam has been designing and building solar heated/powered school buildings in cold places and naturally cooled schools in hot places. In recent years he has been sharing his experience in other Himalayan countries like Nepal and Bhutan as an advisor. Of late he has been engaged in helping farmer's Himalayan mountain regions adapt to climate change by designing and executing Ice Stupa form of artificial glaciers. Sonam was granted several awards and titles, such as: Game Changers' award by Human Resource Club of India, UNESCOo Chair for Earthen Architecture, 'Real Heroes' Award by CNN IBN Channel, 'Green Teacher' Award by Sanctuary Asia Magazine, Ashoka Fellowship by Ashoka: Innovators for the Public, 'Man of the Year' by The Week magazine in India and the Governors Medal by the J&amp;K State Government