Know why on Nov 11 India celebrates ‘National Education Day’

New Delhi, Nov 11: The National Education Day is an annual observance that is celebrated in India to commemorate the birth anniversary of country's first Education Minister, freedom fighter and scholar Maulana Abul Kalam Azad.

The Ministry of Human Resource Development announced on 11 September 2008 that November 11 every year, since then this day will be celebrated as the National Education Day, without declaring it a holiday. The Ministry decided to commemorate the birthday of this great son of India by recalling his contribution to the cause of education in India since 2008.

Maulana Azad was a key architect of education in independent India.

On this day India remembers the exemplary contributions of Maulana Azad, all the educational institutions across the country mark the day with seminars, symposia, essay-writing, elocution competitions, workshops and rallies with banner cards and slogans on the importance of literacy and the nation's commitment to all aspects of education.

"Schools are laboratories which produce future citizens of the country," said the eminent educationist Maulana Azad.

Maulana Azad laid the foundations of the education system in an independent India, evaluated and improving the country's performance in the field of technological and scientific research that helped India in the recent emergence of knowledge-based industries.

Maulana Azad while addressing to the first meeting of the Central Advisory Board of Education (CBSE) said, "The primary aim of any system is to create balanced minds which cannot be misled."

Once while addressing an event on National Education Day, former President of India Pranab Mukherjee said that to create socio-religious and cultural inter-linkages in India, Maulana Azad had created a number of institutions - the first Indian Institute of Technology(IIT), University Grants Commission (UGC), Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), Sahitya Academy, Lalit Kala Academy, Sangeet Natak Academy and Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).

On National Education Day, Indians assure themselves to carry forward the legacy of Maulana Azad and his institutions that he founded.