Bhubaneswar: Magsaysay Award winner Sonam Wangchuk has praised the 5Ts and Mo Sarkar initiatives of Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik.

“I have heard about many good happenings in Odisha today. Government is emphasising on innovation and transformation. The State has created an excellent institution of Listening Window at the higher levels of the government which is rarely found in other places”, the alternative -educationist has said referring to the 5Ts and Mo Sarkar programmes of the Odisha government.

Wangchuk was here on Wednesday to deliver the 21st Lecture of Odisha Knowledge Hub(OKH).

“Innovation, entrepreneurship and partnership are key to transformation of education and living of the people”, he said. The community should found solution to its problem without waiting for the solution to come from Delhi or New York, he added.

“Innovation in education possible when we adopt the technique of travelling from ‘known to the unknown’. Such innovation with partnership with community and civil society organisation can lead to the next level of alternative education.”

Wangchuk has applied this model successfully in Ladakh and is confident that the models also would work in other parts of India. He emphasised that the education should be transformed from the present practice of 3R to 3H. By 3R he meant ‘reading, writing and arithmetic’ and by 3H he meant ‘bright head, kind heart and skilled hand’.

The Odisha chief secretary, Asit Tripathy, while introducing Wangchuk, said William Wangchuk from Ladakh from Indian Himalayas, is an inspiring stalwart in the field of alternative road to learning. He has successfully demonstrated the unique innovation of alternative education after conducting experiment with students who fail in conventional education system. The Odisha Skill Development Authority chairman Subroto Bagchi felicitated the speaker.

Adviser to Odisha chief minister R Balakrishnan, adivser to Adarsha Vidyalaya Bijaya Sahoo, and other senior officials of the State government listened to the lecturer.