SPEECH BY THE PRESIDENT OF INDIA, SMT. PRATIBHA DEVISINGH PATIL, AT THE INAUGURATION FUNCTION OF THE FIRST NATIONAL EDUCATION DAY

New Delhi, 11th November 2008

Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is a great privilege and honour for me to participate in the First National Education Day celebrations.

Today is the birth anniversary of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, a great visionary, freedom fighter, scholar, secularist and eminent educationist. As India's first Education Minister, he was convinced that education is a tool of social transformation. He had a clear vision that all individuals should have a right to education that would develop their faculties and enable them to live an enriched life. His well-rounded view of education prompted him to set up apex education bodies like the All India Council of Technical Education and the University Grants Commission. It is befitting that this day, a day on which this great son of India was born, should be celebrated this year onwards as the National Education Day. I congratulate the Ministry of Human Resource Development for taking this initiative.

The objective of celebrating National Education Day should be to strengthen our educational institutions and to raise the quality of education to greater heights. It should be an occasion to remember Maulana Azad's contribution in laying the foundations of the education system in an independent India as well as to evaluate our current performance in this field. Henceforth, on this day, all stakeholders involved in the field of education should come together to seek ways to advance India's prestige in the world, as a knowledge society and to focus on how to educate our people.

When we look at the legacy of Maulana Azad, we need to look at his contribution to education and to other diverse spheres of life. He was born in a family of noted Islamic scholars and though he did not receive formal education in a regular school, Maulana Azad was a scholar of several languages, including Urdu, Persian, Arabic and Hindi as well as of mathematics, philosophy, world history and science. He rose to prominence as a journalist who extensively published works advocating the cause of Indian nationalism. In the Urdu weekly newspaper Al-Hilal, which he started in 1912, he espoused the cause of freedom as well as Hindu-Muslim unity.

With his involvement in the Khilafat Movement, he came into close contact with Mahatma Gandhi. It is important to recall that Maulana Azad always took an uncompromising position against communalism and supported an India that was secular. He was firmly committed to the ideas of equity and equality, endearing him to Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, who fondly called him "Mir-i-Karawan" - a leader of the mission.

Maulana Azad recognized the link between education, expanding mental horizons and national development. He was clear in his mind that in the advancement of nations there is no greater hindrance than narrow mindedness. He emphasized that independent India would need people with a broad outlook since it is a nation with a vast comprehensive culture, where it is often said - there is no school of philosophical thought that is not found here. It is these liberal thoughts that have created the conducive conditions for this vast array of thinking to flourish. This has enriched the country. It has given us our identity. It has given us a cultural heritage, which is looked upon with admiration the world over. We have to ensure that our institutions of learning reflect the true values of our heritage and civilization.

Teaching has been a fundamental tool for the entire human race for passing on knowledge and experiences to the next generation. Its importance has been recognized by all cultures at all times, which has given teaching a special place of honour. In our country, the teacher is addressed as Guruji, which shows the level of respect for them. Our education system must focus on the upgradation of teaching methodologies of teachers as well as their training and sensitization to social issues, including to gender-equality.

Education is essential for preparing a population that is not only knowledgeable and skilled but is aware of its responsibilities and willing to contribute to the growth of the nation and as well as well being of society. Education should be a process that imparts knowledge, develops the personality of the individual and opens up new opportunities. This can be possible only when education makes one aware of the many colours of life and its realities, and the interdependence between people and between the environment and humankind. Education and awareness would be necessary if peace is to be ushered into society, in the country and on the globe, and if future generations are to be empowered with spreading and maintaining prosperity and development. The creation of future generations, which are capable of facing the challenges of the future, is indeed, an investment.

In today's age that is dominated by knowledge and high technology, the real challenge before our educational system is to create a human resource that can take advantage of new opportunities and face new challenges. Our education system should have the dynamism to be able constantly to adjust to the rapid changes.

It is equally important that education has to be all encompassing and efforts must be made to reach its benefits to the weakest sections of society. I reiterate my view that it is important that every citizen of our country, whether man or woman, boy or girl, must have the opportunity of receiving education.

With the flagship programme Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, we have taken an important step forward in providing education to all children in the age group of 6 to 14. The success in the implementation of this programme would also require that due attention be given to the quality of education along with the emphasis on building a national character which has been defined through the ages as one of tolerance and of respect for the vast diversity that exists in our country.

In addition, the National Programme for Education of Girls at Elementary Level, the Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya Scheme and the Mid-Day Meal Scheme for all children in elementary education are widely recognized as steps towards universalization of school education. The nation can be proud that the Global Monitoring Report 2008 of UNESCO has projected India as one of the 28 countries, which have a high chance of achieving universal primary education enrollment by 2015, under the Millennium Development Goals. We must work sincerely for achieving this goal.

I am happy to have released a Special Cover of the Department of Posts, along with a set of books on Maulana Azad, published by the National Book Trust on this occasion. I am sure that the Special Cover and the books will help carry forward the message of Maulana Azad and be a source of inspiration for young minds in the country.

In conclusion, I once again congratulate the Ministry of Human Resource Development for initiating a tradition of tribute to Maulana Azad, as National Education Day, on his birth anniversary.

Thank you,

Jai Hind