November 11: National Education Day

Every year on November 11, India celebrates National Education Day on November 11 to commemorate the birth anniversary of Maulana Abdul Azad, the first Education Minister of India. He was the man behind the establishments of the premier institutes of the country like IITs, IIScs, etc.

Highlights

• The Day is being celebrated since 2008
• Campaigns and Programs are organized on this day every year to spread awareness about education and for the citizens to learn about the importance of education.
• The main objective of the day is to attract more people towards education and to increase the literacy rate of the country

Maulana Azad

• Maulana Azad was an independence activist and one of the senior leaders of the Indian National Congress.
• He was awarded the Bharat Ratna, the highest civilian award in 192 for his contributions towards education
• He founded the University Grants Commission (UGC) that supervises the higher education across the country.
• His primary objective was free primary education.
• He was born on November 11, 1888. He learned Arabic and Urudu. In 1912, he began a weekly Urudu newspaper called the “Al-Hilal”.
• He found the Lalit Kala Academy, Sangeet Natak Academy and Sahitya Academy to promote the education system of the country.

Month: Current Affairs - November, 2019