Why is National Education Day observed on November 11? What was the contribution of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad in India’s freedom struggle? How he shaped India’s education system? Take a look at the essential events, concepts, terms, quotes, or phenomena every day and brush up your knowledge. Here’s your knowledge nugget for today.

Knowledge Nugget: Maulana Abul Kalam Azad

Subject: History 

(Relevance: Prominent personalities form an important part of the history syllabus of UPSC CSE, and from time to time UPSC has asked questions on such personalities. Thus, knowing about the Maulana Abul Kalam Azad becomes important.)

Every year November 11 is observed as the National Education Day to mark the birth anniversary of independent India’s first Education Minister Abul Kalam Ghulam Muhiyuddin. Also known as Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, he served as the education minister of India from 1947 to 1958 and was posthumously honoured with Bharat Ratna in 1992.

Abul Kalam Azad was a freedom fighter, educator, journalist, and senior leader of the Indian National Congress. He significantly influenced India’s education system. Here are five interesting facts about the Abul Kalam Azad:

Maulana Abul Kalam Azad was born in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, in 1888. Azad's mother was an Arab, the while his father, Maulana Khairuddin, was a Bengali Muslim of Afghan roots who moved to Arab during the Sepoy Mutiny and then resided in Mecca. He returned to Calcutta with his family in 1890, when Abul Kalam was two years old.

Maulana Abul Kalam Azad founded Al-Hilal, a weekly Urdu journal, in 1912 to increase revolutionary recruits among Muslims. Al-Hilal played an instrumental role in restoring Hindu-Muslim harmony following the bad blood created between the two communities in the aftermath of Morley-Minto reforms. In 1914, the government banned Al-Hilal because it was considered a propagator of secessionist sentiments.

Maulana Azad then started another weekly called Al-Balagh with the same mission of propagating Indian nationalism and revolutionary ideas based on Hindu-Muslim unity. In 1916, the government banned this paper too and expelled Maulana Abul Kalam Azad from Calcutta and exiled him to Bihar, from where he was released after the First World War in 1920.

In 1920, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad was elected as a member of the foundation committee to establish Jamia Millia Islamia University at Aligarh in UP. He also assisted in shifting the university campus from Aligarh to New Delhi in 1934. Now, the main gate of the campus is named after him.

Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, India's then-Union Minister for Education, is welcomed as a guest of the government in France by then-French Minister of Education Jean Berthoin. (Express Archive Photo)

Maulana Abul Kalam Azad is credited with shaping the country's modern educational system. During his tenure as education minister, the first IIT, IISc, School of Planning and Architecture, and University Grants Commission were established. The Sangeet Natak Academy, Lalit Kala Academy, Sahitya Academy, and Indian Council for Cultural Relations were among the most well-known cultural and literary institutes established during his tenure.

Maulana Abul Kalam Azad with Jawaharlal Nehru. (Express archive photo)

Azad also focused on educating the rural poor and girls, adult literacy, universal primary education, and diversification of secondary education and vocational training.

Maulana Abul Kalam Azad joined the Indian National Congress in 1920. He was chosen President of the Congress's Special Session in Delhi (1923). At the age of 35, he became the youngest President of the Indian National Congress.