Vice President addresses 62nd foundation day of DU's School of Open Learning

New Delhi [India], May 6 : The School of Open Learning has made informal education equivalent to formal education, Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar said here on Friday on the 62nd foundation day of SOL, University of Delhi.
Vice President and Delhi University Chancellor, Jagdeep Dhankhar was the chief guest at the event organised with the theme 'Viksit Bharat ke Nirman mein Mukt Shiksha ka Yogdan.'
In his address on this occasion, the Vice President said that education is the key to the lock through which the doors of progress open.
Presiding over the program, Delhi University VC Prof Yogesh Singh said that 60 per cent of Chartered Accountants (CAs) in Delhi are SOL students. Many lawyers, civil servants, teachers and politicians have also been students of SOL.
Dhankhar further said in his address that education is the centre of the biggest change in society.
"Ancient Bharat has been the guru of education and knowledge. Then the world looked at us. From the 5th to 13th century, we were recognized as a major centre of education and knowledge. There is a need to understand why the change came after the 13th century and why Bharat is turning today," Dhankhar said.
The Vice President said that two characteristics are visible in the ancient education system, formal education and informal education. Gurukuls were the medium of formal education while families were the medium of informal education. "Today SOL is institutionally doing this work. This has made informal education equivalent to formal education," Jagdeep Dhankhar said.
Dhankhar said that after centuries, today's Bharat is moving at a fast pace. He expressed confidence that "there is no doubt that we will see a Viksit Bharat in 2047."
Regarding making Bharat a developed nation by 2047, he said that this is like a holy yagya in which everyone is making sacrifices.
"SOL is also giving it a meaningful dimension. It is making the stakeholders participants in it by giving them education, who for some reason were not able to participate in it even if they wanted to. SOL has shown them the light and now these students are showing the light to the country and the world," the vice president said
He further said that the country's economy is changing because of education. Today women are working as entrepreneurs and also giving work to other people. Bharat has been included among the leading few countries of the world. He said that today's Bharat is more powerful than England. Today's Bharat will leave Japan and Germany behind in 2-3 years.
The Chancellor said, "We must remember that failure is not the name of anything. See in failure the key to success." Giving the example of the success of Chandrayaan 3 on August 23, 2023, he said that if Chandrayaan-2 had not been there, there would have been no Chandrayaan-3.
During the foundation day celebrations of SOL, three students of SOL were also honoured by the DU Chancellor.