Universities should serve as sanctuaries of ideas and ideation: V-P Dhankhar

New Delhi, June 23 The state of education defines not only the state of academics, but the state of the nation, Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar said on Monday, calling for universities to grow into sanctuaries of ideas and ideation.

Addressing vice-chancellors of universities at a conference of the Association of Indian Universities (AIU), the V-P said, “When we look back to our ancient history, we are reminded of our rich past. It is time Bharat must build world-class institutions, not just to teach, but to pioneer.”

He also unveiled a commemorative Coffee Table Book depicting 100 years of excellence of AIU in higher education.

The Vice President also called for universities to play the role of social change. “Our universities are not merely meant to hand out degrees. The degrees must carry great weightage. Universities have to be sanctuaries of ideas and ideation, crucibles of innovation. They have to catalyse big change.”

“That responsibility rests on the Vice-Chancellors, in particular, and the academia in general. Therefore, I appeal to you: there must be space for disagreement, debate, dialogue and discussion. Abhivyakti, Vaad Vivaad, Anant Vaad are inalienable facets of our civilisation and democracy,” he said.

Stressing on innovations, Dhankhar said, “We cannot remain perpetual students of Western innovation when our demographic dividend positions us as the world's knowledge epicentre. These are not mere disciplines. These are levers of assurance of our sovereignty in all times to come.”

Focusing on the reach of institutions, the V-P said, “Many of our institutions have remained brownfield. Let us fall in line with the global groove, let's go green. Greenfield institutions alone bring about equitable distribution of these knowledge centres.”

He said there are places that are untouched by the growth of these institutions. A large section of the population is deprived of these benefits on account of distance. “Let us go in for greenfield institutions in areas that have so far not benefited from such institutions,” he said.

Dhankhar also motivated heads of institutions to promote affordable education. “Vice-Chancellors are not only the watchdogs, but also impregnable bulwarks to commodification and commercialisation of education, because one of our fundamental objectives to transform the nation is affordability and accessibility of quality education for ordinary people,” he said.

The two-day conference to celebrate the establishment of AIU is themed ‘Envisioning Future Higher Education: The Pivotal Role of India’.

The event is being attended by 300 vice-chancellors from across the country. Another 200 VCs will join the event online.

The conference is focused on releasing an action plan for the transformation of higher education and preparing a policy note on ‘Future of Higher Education’.

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