National Education Day is celebrated every year on November 11 to commemorate the birth anniversary of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, the first education minister of India. His contribution to establishing the education foundation in India is recognized by celebrating his birthday as National Education Day
History
The first National Education Day was celebrated on November 11, 2008. It was on September 11, 2008, the ministry of human resource development announced, “The Ministry has decided to commemorate the birthday of this great son of India by recalling his contribution to the cause of education in India. November 11 every year, from 2008 onwards, will be celebrated as the National Education Day, with declaring it as a holiday.”
Schools, colleges, and other educational institutions in the country mark the day with seminars, symposia, essay-writing, workshops, and poster-making. Maulana Abul Kalam Azad served as the first education minister of independent India from August 15, 1947, to February 2, 1958.
He was also a freedom fighter, a scholar, and a senior political leader of Jawaharlal Nehru’s government. The day is also seen as an occasion to remember Azad’s contribution in laying the foundations of the education system in an independent India and evaluating and improving the country’s current performance in the field.
The first Indian Institute of Technology, IIT Kharagpur, was established by Maulana Abul Kalam Azad. Apart from IIT Kharagpur, UGC, and AICTE, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad was also responsible for setting up the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), Sahitya Academy, Lalit Kala Academy, Sangeet Natak Academy, and Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), He was posthumously awarded Bharat Ratna, India’s highest civilian award, in 1992.
The Central government in September 2008 announced November 11 as the National Education Day. The first National Education Day celebrations were inaugurated by then President Pratibha Patil on November 11, 2008, at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi.
