Leh, August 25: Jamyang Tsering Namgyal (Hon’ble Member of Parliament) inaugurated the 2^nd edition of Ladakh Education Fair 2023 at Eliezar Joldan Memorial College Leh.  In the keynote address, Jamyang Tsering Namgyal exhorted the students to make full use of the platform of the Ladakh Education Fair to interact with Experts and Resource persons to help them shape their future.  The Member of Parliament highlighted the progress made in the last four years in the field of education and appreciated the efforts made by the Administration in providing quality education to the remotest corners of the UT. He said that the Ladakh Education Fair will benefit the students and such initiatives of the Administration should be sustained and further expanded.

During the inaugural session, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the Higher Education Department, Ladakh Skill Development Mission (LSDM), and the Wadhwani Foundation for “Employability Skills Training,” which is set to be implemented across Government Degree Colleges, Polytechnics, and ITIs in the Union Territory of Ladakh. Commissioner Secretary of Technical Education & Skill Development Department Ladakh/ Mission Director Ladakh Skill Development Mission, Padma Angmo, and Executive Vice President, Wadhwani Skills Network, Sunil Dahiya signed the MoU.

Commissioner Secretary Padma Angmo said that in an increasingly competitive job market, employability skills are of paramount importance and are essential competencies that employers seek and therefore the MoU with Wadhwani Foundation will be beneficial in honing the employability skills among the youth of Ladakh. She also expressed her happiness to see that the Fair is hosting cutting-edge technology topics like Artificial Intelligence, the Internet of Things, and drone technology which holds the key to the future, and thanked the Centre of Development of Advance Computing (CDAC) for offering to organize a 5 days boot camp on drone technology for the youth of Ladakh.

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Earlier, welcoming the guests, Principal EJM College, Leh Dr. Sameena Iqbal briefed the audience about the concept behind the Ladakh Education Fair and said that the fair will focus on five components related to education and employment- subject choice, career guidance, scholarships, skill development, and apprenticeship.

The technical session included a panel discussion on Education and Employability with Magsaysay Award winner and innovator Sonam Wangchuk, former Chief Conservator of Forest Jigmet Takpa, Sunil Dahiya, EVP of the Wadhwani Foundation, and the Commissioner/Secretary Padma Angmo.

The Fair jointly hosted by EJM Leh and GDC Khaltse witnessed cultural performances by students of the two colleges. Various stalls are set up at the venue by Departments, NGOs, and Banks. Biometric verification of students for the Scholarship under the Ministry of Minority Affairs was also conducted at the Fair venue by the District Social Welfare Office. Besides, there were stalls for apprenticeship where many students registered for the apprenticeship scheme of the Government of India.

The two-day Ladakh Education Fair is being simultaneously organized in the Degree Colleges at Kargil, Nubra, Zanskar, Drass, and Sankoo extension campus from 24-25^th August and at EJM College Leh on 25-26^th August. The LEF is organized by the Higher Education Department and the Colleges in collaboration with the Ladakh Skill Development Mission and supported by the Department of Information & Public Relations.