Chhattisgarh Times Raipur: “No schooling is far better than bad schooling,” says education reformist and Ramon Magsaysay Awardee Sonam Wangchuck.’
Wangchuk, an innovator and founder of The Students’ Educational and Cultural Movement of Ladakh (SECMOL), while addressing a press conference said that he was home-schooled till the age of nine as there were no schools in his village.
He said that apart from good schooling the most important thing is that a child must have the enthusiasm to go to school.
Sonam Wangchuck, who inspired the famous 3 idiots Bollywood movie character Phunsukh Wangdu, was in the state capital on Friday as chief guest for annual function of a school.
When asked whether or not he feels proud that the character of Aamir Khan as Phunsukh Wangdu was inspired by him?
“I give more weightage to the real life than the ones on big screen. We, people, have a tendency to judge a person by their limelight or if someone appreciates them, but one must know that self-appreciation is more important than a bunch of people appreciating you and your work”, he answered.
Answering about a question related to Indian education system, Wangchuck said that It is very important that we should relate education to real life and prepare young children for future by developing their skills which often doesn’t happen in the education system of our country.
He said that students must be given more practical knowledge than mere theoretical ones which they can implement in real life.
Speaking about vocational courses in schools, Wangchuck said that the theories, intellectuals, and visuals don’t come handy in real life, so the vocational courses are the need of the era.
It means to apply and practice what we learn in theories. The nations that build themselves don’t do so by having top 10 thoughts, but with the skills and hands in real life. The dignity of skills and labours must be appreciated.
Sonam Wangchuck is the founder of The Students’ Educational and Cultural Movement of Ladakh (SECMOL)—an alternative school for Ladakhi youth and students attending school and college in town— founded with an aim to reform the educational system of Ladakh.
He completed his B.Tech in Mechanical Engineering from National Institute of Technology, Srinagar and went for two years of higher studies in Earthen Architecture at Craterre School of Architecture in Grenoble, France in 2011.
