November 11, on this day, the country celebrates National Education Day to commemorate the birth anniversary of freedom fighter and independent India’s first Education Minister Maulana Abul Kalam Azad.       

       Remembered as Maulana Azad, his contribution to building an education foundation in this country has been remarkable.Maulana Abul Kalam Azad always emphasised on quality education and considered schools as laboratories which produced future citizens of the country. He strongly believed in free primary education and compulsory education to all children upto the age of 14.

                         In 1947, he was elected as the first education minister of the independent India. He served the post as education minister till 1958. Under his tenure, he founded most of the major cultural and literary academies we have today including the first IIT, UGC, Sangeet Natak Academy, Lalit Kala Academy, Sahitya Academy as well as the Indian Council for Cultural Relations and School of Planning and Architecture.He was also awarded with the highest civilian honour, the Bharat Ratna in 1992.

FACTS AND FIGURES

He has also written many books including India Wins Freedom, Ghubar-e-Khatir, Tazkirah and Tarjumanul Quran. In 1920, he was elected as one of the founding members to establish Jamia Millia Islamia at Aligarh in Uttar Pradesh without the help of the British. In 1912, he started a weekly journal in 1912 in Urdu called Al-Hilal to increase the revolutionary recruit.He was elected as Congress President, said to be the youngest man elected as the President of the Congress,  in 1923 and again in 1940.