Dept of Technical Education & Skill Development, Ladakh organizes Workshop in association with PWD Ladakh & UoL on Collaboration with Danish Consortium of Academic Craftsmanship

LEH, April 14: A Workshop on Collaboration with Danish Consortium of Academic Craftsmanship (DCAC) was organized by Department of Technical Education and Skill Development, Ladakh in association with PWD Ladakh and University of Ladakh at Conference Hall, Hospitality & Protocol, Leh. The Workshop was aimed to identify potential areas of collaboration for the skill development of Ladakhi youth including integration of DCAC’s practices in the ITs/Polytechnics curriculum / Skill Ecosystem.

In her opening remarks, Commissioner/Secretary, Technical Education and Skill Development, Ladakh, Padma Angmo highlighted the objective of a sustainable skilling ecosystem in Ladakh that focuses on quality skill development for its youth. She stressed technology transfer & knowledge sharing, with a Ladakh-specific, sustainable, and modern curriculum for ITI/Polytechnic capacity building. Further, she added that skilling should start in schools by exposing students to all skilling opportunities so that they can opt right after school, thus ensuring integration and synergy between schools and colleges. She also emphasized the importance of result and action-oriented research in devising solutions to the complex challenges unique to Ladakh. In this regard, she proposed working collaboratively on joint research initiatives involving educational institutions, such as UoL, HIAL, and others.

During the second session, Commissioner/Secretary, PWD, Ladakh A K Sahu spoke on three main components that can be executed in collaboration with DCAC viz. updating the syllabus and identifying the add-ons; developing a mechanism to assess the objectives in a regular manner and adapting the pedagogy to better align with the interests of students. Sahu highlighted the need to replace or upgrade outdated teaching systems that are no longer sustainable or relevant in today’s rapidly changing world. He emphasized the significance of adopting new teaching methods and technologies to bring about substantial changes in the education system.

While sharing their reflections, DCAC team member, Professor Sudhanshu Rai exhorted that short and intensive skill training programmes for youth can prove highly beneficial for quick employability. Sudhanshu opined that designing lively learning spaces and interesting pedagogical techniques for the youth of Ladakh with a strong academic philosophy that focuses on innovation, creativity, and critical thinking can inspire learners to engage in the process of skill development with a sense of curiosity and purpose.

The DCAC team members including Ms Lene Bonnen Sandholdt and Mr Michael Christiansen concurred that the current pedagogy of the courses is overly theoretical and stressed imparting more practical skill-based training to make the students industry-ready. The team recommended the commencement of pilot projects with a focus on practical learning and teacher training programmes. Further, a steering committee or a board was suggested to be constituted with all the stakeholders who can monitor the development of pedagogy and evaluation.

Vice Chancellor, University of Ladakh, Prof S.K Mehta gave a detailed presentation on UoL outlining the research initiatives, MoUs signed and proposed points of action for DCAC collaboration such as apprenticeship programme, entrepreneurship development programme, launching of courses like B Voc and M Voc in entrepreneurship, Geo-informatics, Tourism and setting up of centre of excellence, etc.

Senior Assistant Professor, GDC Kargil/Chairman Committee for Skill Enhancement Courses, Dr Javed Naqi gave a presentation on Skill Initiatives in Colleges/University of Ladakh. He informed the forum on skill courses to be offered under NEP policy 2020 from this year onwards. He identified and proposed points for collaboration with Ladakh Skill Development Mission (LSDM) and DCAC.

Lecturer, Civil Engineering, GP Leh Asrar Ahmed, gave a presentation on existing Polytechnic Programmes/Curriculum stressing on introduction of subjects with respect to challenges faced in Ladakh such as all-weather plumbing, building construction lab, lab for studying heat loss, highway engineering lab etc.

Computer Science Engineer, ITI, Tsering Motup gave a presentation on existing programmes in ITI Leh. Representative from Himalayan Institute of Alternatives Ladakh (HIAL), Rohit Ranjan, spoke on the innovative pedagogy practiced in HIAL. He spoke on the importance of harnessing solar power in Ladakh and designing courses as per the requirement of the region.

In the workshop, deliberations were also held on the scope of placements of youth overseas and in Danish companies in India, and Faculty/ Youth training in Denmark / Danish companies in India, and student exchange programmes. Earlier in the day, the DCAC team conducted a field visit to Polytechnic Leh and ITI Leh.

OSD, Abid Hussain presented the welcome speech and Assistant Professor Commerce (UoL), Prof Jigmet Stobdan gave the overall summary highlighting the action plans devised in the workshop and vote of thanks.

The Workshop was also attended by Regional Director RDSDE JK and Ladakh, S. S.Santhimanalan; Registrar UoL, Prof.A. K Sharma; Dean Academic Affairs UoL, Prof. Tashi Ldawa;   Principal Polytechnic Leh/ Kargil, Sh. Talat Mehmood;  Executive Engineer, PMGSY Ladakh, Dr. Tsewang Thinglas; Executive Engineer Mechanical Division Leh, Sh. Mohd Taqi; Executive Engineer EM&RE PDD Leh, Gh Mohd Qari; AEE PHE Leh, Sh. Iftikhar Ahmad; AEE PHE Leh, Sh. Lundup Jamyang; Superintendent ITI Leh, Sh. Thinles Wangchok;  ITI/Polytechnic team, and other concerned officials.