Education in India: Are students failing or the system?! | Sonam Wangchuk | TEDxGateway

Summary

The speaker shares inspiring stories of three individuals who, despite academic failures, achieved remarkable success. They emphasize the need to rethink conventional education systems, highlighting their work in Ladakh to reform schools and establish an alternative residential school for 'failures.' The school focuses on experiential learning, life skills, and innovation, fostering a supportive environment that allows students to thrive. The message is clear: a nurturing environment can transform perceived failures into shining stars.

Takeaways

• 🌟 The script introduces three individuals who, despite being labeled as failures in school, achieved remarkable success in their respective fields.
• 🏆 Rickson, a journalist, became the education minister of the Ladakh hill council at a young age, highlighting that success is not solely defined by academic performance.
• 🎬 Stanzin is a filmmaker who has won awards internationally, showing that creativity and talent can flourish outside traditional educational settings.
• 🏅 Finless, an entrepreneur, was recognized as 'Person of the Year' by a prominent journal, illustrating that innovation and entrepreneurship can be achieved by those deemed as academic failures.
• 🤔 The speaker questions the absurdity of college admission requirements that demand perfect scores, suggesting that this may not be the best measure of a student's potential.
• 📚 The speaker's personal experience tutoring students led to the realization that the education system might be failing students, not the other way around.
• 🔄 The establishment of the Students' Educational and Cultural Movement of Ladakh (SECMOL) aimed to reform the education system and has significantly improved pass rates.
• 🏫 An alternative school was set up for students who failed conventional exams, focusing on experiential learning and life skills rather than just academic achievement.
• 🌱 The campus operates as a self-sustaining community, teaching students practical life skills such as management, planning, and execution through real-world responsibilities.
• 🌍 The students engage in experiential learning activities that connect academic concepts to real-life applications, such as making jam to understand germ theory.
• 🏞 The campus is built with sustainable practices in mind, utilizing mud construction and solar energy, emphasizing the importance of environmental stewardship.
• ❄️ Innovations like the AI stupa artificial glacier demonstrate the campus's commitment to addressing local challenges with creative solutions, such as water scarcity in the Himalayas.
• 💡 The script advocates for a holistic approach to education, replacing the traditional '3 R's' with the '3 H's' - head, hands, and heart, to develop well-rounded individuals.

Q & A

Who are the three individuals mentioned in the script that achieved success despite being considered failures in school?

The three individuals are Salaam Rickson, who became the education minister of the Ladakh hill council at the age of 27; Stanzin, a filmmaker who has won awards at film festivals across India, France, and Canada; and Finless, a celebrated entrepreneur featured in many national and international journals, who was declared the Person of the Year by one of them.

What is the significance of the 95% marks requirement mentioned in the script?

The 95% marks requirement signifies the absurdity of some colleges demanding perfect scores for admission, which contrasts with the speaker's belief that less emphasis on marks would suffice and that students with 95% marks should not be made to feel like failures.

Why did the speaker decide to work on changing the education system in Ladakh?

The speaker decided to work on changing the education system in Ladakh because they observed that 95 percent of the students were failing in the tenth-grade board exams, leading them to believe that it was the system failing the students, not the other way around.

What is the Students' Educational and Cultural Movement of Ladakh (SECMOL) and what was its impact?

The Students' Educational and Cultural Movement of Ladakh (SECMOL) is an initiative set up by the speaker and like-minded friends to work with the government to bring reforms in government schools. Its impact was significant, as it increased the pass percentage from 5% to 55% within seven years, and today it stands at around 75%.

What is unique about the admission criteria at the special residential school set up by SECMOL?

The admission criteria at the special residential school are unique because they are not based on grades or percentages. Instead, they prioritize students who have failed in the conventional school system, while those who have passed may be considered but are placed on a waiting list.

How do the two-week youth camps help students at the alternative school?

The two-week youth camps help students explore themselves and the world around them, understand failure, and prepare for it. They are designed to help students see failure not as a personal shortcoming but as an opportunity to join the alternative school.

What kind of learning experiences do students have at the alternative school?

At the alternative school, students engage in a mix of counseling, introspection, and experiential learning to learn academic subjects and life skills. They participate in activities such as managing campus operations, making jam, and going on educational tours, which help them apply abstract concepts in practical ways.

What is the significance of the campus running like a little country with its own government and newspaper?

The campus running like a little country with its own elected government and newspaper provides students with real-life experiences in leadership, management, and communication. It allows them to apply academic concepts in practical settings and develop important life skills.

How does the campus utilize the themes of Earth, Sun, ice, and fire in its innovations?

The campus utilizes Earth by building with mud, Sun by using passive solar heating and solar energy for various purposes, ice by creating ice hockey rinks and inventing the 'make it anywhere' technique, and fire by using solar cooking devices. These innovations demonstrate a holistic approach to education that integrates learning with practical applications.

What is the AI stupa artificial glacier, and how does it help the Himalayan villages?

The AI stupa artificial glacier is an invention that pipes water away from the Indus River during winter when it's not needed and allows it to freeze, creating a cone of ice. This glacier melts in late spring when water is most needed by farmers, providing a solution for water scarcity in the Himalayan villages affected by climate change and melting glaciers.

What is the message the speaker conveys about the potential of students labeled as failures?

The speaker's message is that even students labeled as failures can shine like bright stars if they are provided with a supportive environment that replaces the conventional 3 R's (reading, writing, arithmetic) with a more holistic approach that includes head, hands, and heart.