Sonam Wangchuk Steals The Show At Odisha Knowledge Hub Program At LoK Seva Bhawan

Bhubaneswar: Sonam Wangchuck, the man whose life sketch inspired a character in the blockbuster Movie ‘3 Idiots’, delivered the OKH lecture on 3R to 3H: The Next Learning Revolution” today in the Lok Seva Bhawan. This is the 21st Lecture of the Odisha Knowledge Hub (OKH) series.

Government of Odisha has been organizing Odisha Knowledge Hub (OKH) Lecture Series for promoting new and emerging ideas in different fields.

Though Mr. Sonam Wangchuk is a Mechanical Engineer by education, he has been mostly working in the field of education reforms for more than 30 years. In 1988, he founded the SECMOL (Students’ Educational and Cultural Movement of Ladakh) that aims 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, whose work has been instrumental in improving the pass percentage of 1Oth graders in the region from dismal 5% to 75%. For students who still failed in their State exams, he founded the SECMOL Alternative School Campus near Leh, a special school where the admission criterion is failure in exams and not grades.

As an engineer Sonam Wangchuk has been teaching innovation at the SECMOL Alternative School, where together with the students, he designed and built solar heated buildings that are low cost, made of earth/mud but maintain +15° C even when the outside temperature is -15° C in Ladakhi winters.

His Ice Stupa artificial glaciers have claimed fame for helping solve the water crisis in the region due to climate change and fast melting glaciers. The lce Stupas store water in the winter in the form of giant ice cones or stupas, which melt over summer and provide water to the lands, just in time for irrigation. He is now extending this experience of learning by doing’ to higher ducation and is in the process of setting up Himalayan Institute of lternatives, Ladakh (HIAL). Mr Wangchuk was granted several awards and titles such as: Ramon Magsaysay Award in 2018, ICA Honor Award in 2017, San Francisco,.CA, Rolex Award for Enterprise in 2016, International Terra Award for best earth building in 2016 and the Global Award for Sustainable Architecture.

Wangchuk deliberated on innovation, entrepreneurship, education, social empowerment and environment. Senior officials of Government of Odisha including officials of different Departments, eminent personalities from the field of education, science and technology and distinguished delegates with wide exposure in respective fields attended the lecture. Ministers, MLAs and Secretaries of various Departments and other concerned functionaries of the State Government were also present.