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ladakh affairs Education
cess of education system—wherein community members prioritize education leading to their active participation as active stakeholders in the system). According to Sonam Wangchuk, one of the main founders of SECMOL, ''with such illustration we found that even the simplest villagers could see that if they were to break this cycle of failure. Then it had to start with the people themselves. Therefore it is the people's priorities (as voters) that that must change” Under ONH, the progressive members in villages were formed into Village Education Committees (VEC) with at least 1/3rd of women and 2 students from the school of concerned village as its member. Since its inception, VEC played an important role in keeping vigil at teachers, maintaining and improving the school infrastructure and looking into the complaints and connivances of the teachers. Moreover, VECs also activated community to contribute physically, like the building of Residential Higher Secondary School at Durbuk block where the local community voluntarily came forward with labour and materials required for the construction of the school building. Today the same school is being considered a grand success story in the entire Ladakh. In short, since community life in Ladakh, like any tribal society, is based on cooperation (non-competitive) and collective joy, initiatives like the VEC acknowledges the social fabric and values thereof. The joint effort of the Local government, civil society and community started bearing fruits. During the last few years Ladakh witnessed perceptible changes in the education sector at every level. At the level of community, people are much more awakened vis-à-vis education. At governmental level, the Vision Document 2025 for Ladakh prepared by LAHDC in 2005, education has been put on the priority list. In 2003, the matriculation result went up to 49% with a Govt.
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school in remote Turtuk recording a 100 percent result. In schools, the teaching approach has changed from '' chalk, talk and stick'' to ''child-centered, joyful and meaningful learning'' while text books are culturally rooted and geographically relevant, and teachers are locals and relatively well trained. Happy Beginning, Sad Ending Be it educational reforms in Ladakh or any other reforms in other parts of India, such reforms and changes generate resistance and reaction in its course. It always goes directly against the existing set up, the Chalta Hai attitude people and against the established interests of the powers that be. Ladakh has its own story of reforms, resistance and reaction. After the progressive role played in ONH, SECMOL has had a fretful disappearance from Leh in 2007. In a sequence of events following the controversy between then DC of Leh and NGOs, MK Dwivedi, the DC framed Sonam Wangchuk and SECMOL on very flimsy grounds like ''anti-national connections with China''. Unfortunately, the local leaders remained mum and dull and did not try to resolve the matter, despite their appreciation of work done by Wangchuk earlier. This unfortunate event ultimately led SECMOL to withdraw from further reform and collaboration with the Local government. However, the good news is that the Ladakhi students studying outside Ladakh (Jammu, Chandigarh, Delhi, Deradun, Varanasi etc.) have seemed to realize the importance of education. Recently, a seminar namely ''An interactive seminar on education with Sonam Wangchuk'' ogranised by Ladakh Student Union Jammu saw thousands of students turning up with representative from all Ladakhi Students Unions from different parts of the country in the jam-packed Zorawar Singh Auditorium in Jammu on the 21st of Feb. 2010. In the same breath, they emphasized their concern for education, back in Ladakh. Now, that seems to be a happy beginning once again.
Vol. 4, Issue 5
In 1994 Operation New Hope (ONH) was jointly launched by Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC), SECMOL and village community members as a modus-operandi of the reform process. The goal of the ONH was integration and cooperation among the three pillars of education— Government, Community and Civil Society— with the long term aim of what it calls the 3Hs for Ladakhi children: a Skilled Hand, a Bright Head and a Kind Heart Before ONH, Ladakhi children in first year of school used to learn from books supplied from outside. They had to learn the alphabets by connecting 'E' with elephant; 'F' with fan, 'Z' with zebra although they had never seen an elephant or a fan or a zebra. Their books talked about the monsoon phenomenon, without any one word about the intricate irrigation system in their locality Today, thanks to ONH, all Ladakhi children study about Yak, the glaciers and the canals etc in their primary classes. They also learn chapters like ''Wild Life of Ladakh'', '' Life in a Farming Village'' etc The general assumption was that education for their children was something imposed from above and or at least something that the government should care. Creating a demand for education among the people was a challenge for the Local government and SECMOL After the progressive role played in ONH, SECMOL has had a fretful disappearance from Leh in 2007. In a sequence of events following the controversy between then DC of Leh and NGOs, MK Dwivedi, the DC framed Sonam Wangchuk and SECMOL on very flimsy grounds like ''anti-national connections with China
Epilogue, May 2010