In Pictures: The Boy From a Village With No School Grew Up to Warm Ladakh's Coldest Classrooms
Sonam Wangchuk, a village boy who lacked formal schooling until age nine, has transformed education in Ladakh through innovative solar-heated glassrooms. His sustainable architecture provides a warm environment for students in one of the world's coldest inhabited regions.
Born in the remote village of Uleytokpo, Sonam Wangchuk spent his early childhood working on his family's farm before moving to Srinagar for his education. The cultural and linguistic barriers he faced in traditional schools inspired him to rethink the regional education system, eventually leading to the founding of the SECMOL campus.
Ladakh's extreme winters often see temperatures drop to minus 30 degrees Celsius, making conventional learning nearly impossible. Wangchuk's solution involves passive solar heating technology, utilizing mud, straw, and glass to trap sunlight, maintaining internal temperatures of 15 to 20 degrees Celsius without artificial heating.
The SECMOL campus serves as a living laboratory where students contribute to building their own facilities and managing the site. This hands-on approach aims to empower local youth with practical skills while preserving their cultural identity and environmental surroundings. Source: The Better India
