This year, Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has asked its affiliated schools across the country to observe National Education Day today by organising seminars, symposia, essay writing competitions, elocution on the importance of education and the Nation's commitment to all aspects of education.

As a mark of respect and to commemorate the birth anniversary of freedom fighter and independent India’s first education minister Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, the nation is celebrating the National Education Day on 11 November (today).

Maulana Abul Kalam Azad or Maulana Sayyid Abul Kalam Ghulam Muhiyuddin Ahmed bin Khairuddin Al-Hussaini Azad has donned many hats in his public life as he is remembered as a poet, a scholar, a journalist and a freedom fighter whose biggest contribution still remains the gift of education.

One of the most interesting facts about Maulana Azad is that even though he did not receive formal schooling, he was well versed in languages like Urdu, Persian, Arabic, and Hindi. He was also a scholar of history, philosophy and geometry.

Maulana Azad’s contribution to society

Azad considered schools as laboratories which produce future citizens of the country and, therefore, emphasised on quality education. From before Independence, Maulana Azad was committed to setting up of educational institutes in the country for he believed that education is the fundamental block of growth of human civilisation.

In 1920, he was invited and elected as a member of the foundation committee of Jamia Millia Islamia at Aligarh in Uttar Pradesh. In 1934 he assisted in the shifting of the campus of Jamia Millia Islamia to New Delhi.

From 1947 to 1958, he served as the first education minister of independent India. At 35, Azad rose to prominence as a Congress leader — he became the youngest party leader in 1923. Years later he headed Constituent Assembly debates which went on to shape many of our policies, particularly those related to education. He strongly advocated and contributed to universal primary education, girls’ education, free and compulsory education for all children up to the age of 14, vocational training and technical education.

Apex bodies such as the first IIT, IISc, School of Planning and Architecture and the University Grants Commission were all established under his tenure. He believed that India as a nation should aspire for high educational standards and never compromise on that count.

As a freedom fighter, he started a weekly journal in Urdu called Al-Hilal to criticise British policies. The publication gained immense popularity among the masses, so much so that the British finally banned it in 1914.

For his invaluable contribution to the nation, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad was posthumously awarded India's highest civilian honour, the Bharat Ratna in 1992.

How the National Education Day is being celebrated this year

This year, Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has asked its affiliated schools across the country to observe National Education Day on 11 November by organising seminars, symposia, essay writing competitions, elocution competitions, workshops and rallies with banners, cards and slogans on the importance of education and the nation's commitment to all aspects of education.

The national-level education board has more than 20,000 schools in India and abroad affiliated to it.