A half-day heritage education session was held at New Millennium Children School, Dambuchan, Leh as part of the Himalayan Cultural Heritage Foundation’s My Culture, My Heritage initiative, in recognition of the value of imparting heritage education in the school. “Encouraging heritage education to children would become an added advantage because students would learn to understand and appreciate and, in the process, find out ways of protecting one’s heritage,” Shri Dorjee Namgyal, the principal, stated.
Dr. Sonam Wangchok presented the region’s natural and cultural heritage and its significance in an in-depth PowerPoint presentation. The most significant way to protect heritage, according to Dr. Wangchok, is to understand its value. Understanding different heritage values will help one preserve and conserve them. The values of cultural heritage that he has identified include cultural, historical, religious, spiritual, archaeological, social, economic, and so forth. Additionally, by providing various instances, Dr. Wangchok discussed the interdependence (rten-‘brel) of cultural heritage, natural heritage and wildlife heritage. When the roots of their heritage tree confront numerous challenges because of modernisation, climate change, and competition among those seeking short-term financial gain, he has motivated the kids to become the “protector” of their identity. During the question and answer session, both teachers and students took an active part.
Ven. Thupstan Wangchuk, the school’s founder-director and president of New Millennium Education Foundation, thanked Dr. Sonam Wangchok for the insightful heritage talk and assured to continue the heritage education at New Millennium Children School in the future too. Ven. Thupstan Wangchuk stated, “it has become need of the hour that we must prepare our children for maintaining our heritage, which is our identity.” While appreciating Dr. Sonam Wangchok, the school’s managing director, Ma’am Rinchen Angmo, stated that by helping the kids understand the values of their heritage, education would become more relevant and they would be better able to understand local culture and their heritage.
HCH has been organizing the programme My Culture, My Heritage for the last several years in the schools and colleges. Under this project, the children get a chance to reflect upon and get acquainted with their socio-cultural tangible and intangible heritage. They also contribute through write-ups, their views and concerns about their culture and heritage. The articles written by children are published in the heritage magazine, “Heritage Himalaya”, under the Children Corner.