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WHEN IS NATIONAL EDUCATION DAY?

National Education Day is celebrated in the honour of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, independent India's first Education Minister. Azad was born on November 11, 1888.
 
How is National Education Day celebrated in India?
 
On this day, various campaigns and programmes are organized to spread awareness about education. Educational institutions mark the day with seminars, symposia, essay-writing, elocution competitions and workshops
 
Who was Maulana Abul Azad Kalam?
 
Maulana Abul Kalam was a scholar, activist and leader of the Congress party. He served as the Education Minister for eleven years. As a freedom fighter, Azad was the leader of the Khilafat Movement and helped organise the non-co-operation movement in 1919. Azad was a follower of the Gandhian philosophy. He also served as the President of the Congress party in 1923 and then from 1940 to 1945. Maulana has authored several books including India Wins Freedom and Ghubar-e-Khatir.
 
Maulana Abul Kalam's contribution towards education in India
 
As one of the founder members of the Jamia Millia Islamia at Aligarh in Uttar Pradesh, he helped in shifting the campus of the university from Aligarh to New Delhi in 1934.
 
A steadfast believer in the power of quality education, Maulana Abul Kalam helped established the University Grants Commission (UGC) on December 28, 1953. As education minister, he is credited with the establishment of the Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT). He also helped establish IISc and School of Architecture and Planning, Sangeet Natak Akademi (1953), Sahitya Akademi (1954) and Lalit Kala Akademi (1954) to promote education and culture in the country.
 
On September 11, 2008 Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) decided to celebrate November 11 as National Education Day annually. MHRD also gives the Maulana Abul Kalam Azad National Fellowship in the form of financial assistance to students from minority communities to pursue M Phil and PhD.
 
Institutes named after Maulana Abul Azad Kalam
 
Maulana Azad Medical College in New Delhi
Maulana Azad National Institute of Technology in Bhopal
Maulana Azad National Urdu University in Hyderabad
Maulana Azad Centre for Elementary and Social Education
Maulana Azad College
Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Institute of Asian Studies
Kolkata's Maulana Abul Kalam Azad University of Technology
A Central (Minority) University in New Delhi
Maulana Azad library in the Aligarh Muslim University
Maulana Azad Stadium in Jammu

NATIONAL EDUCATION DAY NEWS