National Education Day 2021: Know interesting facts about India’s first education minister
National Education Day 2021: National Education Day is observed on November 11 every year, since 2008, to commemorate the birth anniversary of independent India’s first education minister Maulana Abul Kalam Azad.
In a tribute to the first Education Minister of India, PM Narendra Modi said, “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.”
On National Education Day 2021, let's learn some lesser-known facts about Maulana Abul Kalam Azad. Also read | ICC T20I Rankings: KL Rahul moves to fifth spot, Kohli drops to eighth Maulana Abul Kalam Azad was born in Saudi Arabia Maulana Abul Kalam Azad was born in Mecca, Saudi Arabia in 1888. His mother was an Arab and the daughter of Sheikh Mohammad Zaher Watri and Azad’s father, Maulana Khairuddin, was a Bengali Muslim of Afghan origins, who came to Arab during the Sepoy Mutiny and proceeded to Mecca and settled there. He came back to Calcutta with his family in 1890 when Abul Kalam was two years old.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. — Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) November 11, 2021
Founder of Jamia Milia Islamia University
Maulana Abul Kalam Azad was one of the founding members of the Jamia Milia Islamia University, originally established at Aligarh in the United Provinces, India in 1920. The first IIT, IISc, School of Planning and Architecture and the University Grants Commission were established under his tenure as the Education Minister.
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Youngest to serve as the President of the Congress
Maulana Abul Kalam Azad supported Non-Cooperation Movement started by Mahatma Gandhi and entered the Indian National Congress in 1920. He was elected as the president of the special session of the Congress in Delhi (1923). At an age of 35, he became the youngest person to serve as the President of the Indian National Congress.
He knew many languages
Maulana Abul Kalam Azad pursued traditional Islamic education. Azad learnt Arabic and Persian first and then philosophy, geometry, mathematics and algebra. He also learned English, world history, and politics through self-study. He knew Hindustani, Hindi and English languages.
