Ever since 2008, birth anniversary of independent India’s first education minister Maulana Abul Kalam Azad is commemorated as the National Education Day in the national calendar. Serving as the first education minister of independent nation Azad formed the pioneer of the education system of the country. The first National Education Day celebrations were inaugurated by then President Pratibha Patil on November 11, 2008 at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi.
Organizations like UGC, All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) , Kharagpur Institute of higher education, the University education commission, and the Secondary education commission were all established under the reign of Mr Azad. It should aslo be noted that prestigious educational institutes like first Indian Institute of Technology, IIT Kharagpur, Jamia Millia Islamia, Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), Sahitya Academy, Lalit Kala Academy, Sangeet Natak Academy and Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), were also born during his tenure. Azad was posthumously conferred with the Bharat Ratna, India’s highest civilian award, in 1992.
Tributes poured in as the leaders remembered the contributions of Azad in laying a strong foundation for the education system of the nation.aking to his microblogging handle, PM Modi tweeted-Tributes to Maulana Abul Kalam Azad on his Jayanti. A pathbreaking thinker and intellectual, his role in the freedom struggle is inspiring. He was passionate about the education sector and worked to further brotherhood in society.
The Modi govt on July 29,2020 replaced the previous National Education Policy, aiming to transform national education system by 2040. The new policy is a comprehensive framework for elementary education to higher education as well as vocational training in both rural and urban India.This revamp after 34 years focuses to transform traditional learning to comeptency based education.
Current education minister Dharmendra Pradhan also took to his twitter handle and wrote -Tribute to a freedom fighter & the first education minister of independent India, Bharat Ratna, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad on his birth anniversary also commemorated as #NationalEducationDay. He will be remembered for his contributions in developing the education system in India.