SECMOL
PRESENTATION BY: DHYAN, AVANTIKA, ERIC, AYRA, HRITHIKA
THE STUDENTS’ EDUCATIONAL AND
CULTURAL MOVEMENT OF LADAKH
(SECMOL)
SECMOL was founded in 1988 by a group of Ladakhi college students who felt
that the education system needed great change. For many years, SECMOL
worked on reforming the government school system. At the same time, SECMOL
Campus grew into an eco-village where students, staff and volunteers live, work
and learn together.
SONAM WANGCHUK
Sonam Wangchuk, founder of SECMOL &
Himalayan Institute of Alternatives, is one of the
five recipients of the Global Award for
Sustainable Architecture 2017. He is an Indian
engineer and an innovator and the award
recognises the work Sonam and his team at
SECMOL have done over the last few decades on
passive solar-heated Earth buildings and the Ice
Stupas. He has created a portable military tent
that can accommodate ten jawans at a time and
can be heated using solar panels. Sonam was
the inspiration for the character Phunsuk
Wangdu in the Bollywood film 3 Idiots.
CAMPUS
SECMOL Campus is located near the village of Phey in the Indus Valley 18 km
from Leh. It was developed between 1994 and 1999 and was inaugurated in
1998 by the Dalai Lama.
Built using simple, low-cost traditional techniques, the campus now comprises
three residential houses, 20 small "cell rooms" and a large school building, all
solar heated. Part of SECMOL's work is to develop techniques that use alternative
energy sources. Ladakh has over 300 sunny days per year and the sun is
therefore a reliable source of energy and an alternative to fossil fuels.
SOLAR ENERGY
Solar-powered campus
•The SECMOL campus runs on solar energy and
doesn't use fossil fuels for cooking, heating, or
lighting.
Solar water heater
•Wangchuk designed a low-cost solar water
heater that provides hot water to the campus
residents.
Solar-heated buildings
•Wangchuk and his students designed and built
low-cost solar-heated buildings made of earth
and mud. These buildings can maintain a
temperature of +15°C even when the outside
ICE STUPA PROJECT
The Ice Stupa is an artificial glacier that stores winter water in the form of ice
cones, or stupas, and releases it in the spring when farmers need it most. The first
prototype of the Ice Stupa was built in 2013 at the SECMOL school.
How it works
•The Ice Stupa freezes water from streams into a cone shape, which minimizes the
amount of surface area exposed to the sun. An 18-meter stupa can hold around
1.5 to 2 million liters of water.
When it's used
•The Ice Stupa melts in the summer, increasing the water supply for crops.
Why it's important
•The Ice Stupa helps address water scarcity in Ladakh, which is caused by climate
change and melting glaciers. In the spring, there is often little water in the
streams, and by mid-June, there can be excess water and flash flooding
OPERATION NEW HOPE
Wangchuk was instrumental in the
launch of Operation New Hope, a
triangular collaboration of the
government, village communities
and the civil society to bring
reforms in the government school
system. The programme involved
the formation of village education
committees to take ownership of
state schools, training of teachers in
child-friendly ways and re-writing
and publishing localised textbooks
for Ladakh.