November 11 is marked as the National Education Day across India every year. The day commemorates the birth anniversary of India’s renowned freedom fighter and country’s first Education Minister Maulana Abul Kalam Azad. We all are aware of the fact that November 14 is Jawahar Lal Nehru’s birthday but sadly very few people know about November 11.
The National Education Day is an important occasion for the students, academicians, and intellectuals. As today we remember the great personality of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, here’s all the information that you must gather about him:
• Maulana Abul Kalam Azad served as the first education minister of independent India from 15th August 1947 to 2nd February 1958.
• His actual name was Abul Kalam Ghulam Muhiyuddin. The term Maulana in his name means “learned man” and the word Azad was adopted by him as a pen name.
• He started a weekly journal in Urdu in the year 1912 called Al-Hilal to increase the recruitment of revolutionaries.
• He was one of those Muslims who always preached a united India. He strongly opposed the idea of partition and even advised Muslims not to leave India.
• Many cultural and literary academies that are present in the country today were established by him. These include Lalit Kala Academy, Sangeet Natak Academy, and Sahitya Academy.
• He strongly advocated quality education, free and compulsory education to all children, especially girls up to the age of 14.
• The first IIT (Kharagpur), IISc, the University Grants Commission, and School of Planning and Architecture were set up during his tenure to promote the need for higher education.
• He promoted national education in India by introducing free primary education and modern institutions for higher education.
• In India, there are several institutes named after Abul Kalam including the likes of Maulana Azad Medical College in New Delhi, Maulana Azad College in Kolkata, Maulana Azad Stadium in Jammu, etc.
• The Ministry of Human Resource Development on September 11, 2008, announced that Maulana Azad’s birthday will be celebrated as National Education Day in India to honor his contributions.
The National Education Day is celebrated in India to spread awareness about the importance of education. Usually, the educational institutions organize seminars, essay writing, workshops, and rallies on this day.
