Why Is National Education Day Celebrated On November 11?
National Education Day 2022: Since 2008, November 11 has been designated National Education Day to mark the birth anniversary of the first Minister of Education, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad. Azad provided the foundation for higher education and scientific research while also significantly influencing the nation’s educational system.
Azad helped establish a number of academic institutions, including the Secondary Education Commission, All India Council for Technical Education, and University Grants Commission (UGC). During his presidency, institutions like Jamia Millia Islamia and IIT Kharagpur were founded. Additionally, he was in charge of founding the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Sahitya Academy, Lalit Kala Academy, Sangeet Natak Academy, and Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) (CSIR).
Schools, in the opinion of Maulana Azad, are factories that create the nation’s future citizens. Any system’s main goal, according to him, is to foster balanced minds that are impervious to deception.
Former president Pranab Mukherjee referred to Azad as a “builder of institutions” and stated that several academic organisations, including the University Grants Commission, owe their inception to his tenacious efforts. He established a variety of organisations, including the Lalit Kala Academi, Sangeet Natak Academi, and Sahitya Academi, to foster interreligious and intercultural ties in India, according to Mukherjee.
In 1992, Maulana Azad received the Bharat Ratna, the nation’s highest civilian honour, posthumously.
