MAULANA ABUL KALAM AZAD

AND
HIGHER EDUCATION IN INDEPENDENT INDIA
Shashi Bala Kaur,RU

Maulana Abul Kalam Azad can be best described as an illustrious son of the
country, and one of the tallest leaders of modern India. He was a scholar, a
journalist and above everything else, a great believer and supporter of HinduMuslim unity. Rationalist in outlook and profoundly versed in Islamic lore and
history Nehru describes Azad in his Discovery of India. He stood for modern
India with secular credentials, a cosmopolitan character and international
outlook.
On August 15, 1947 when India attained Independence he became Free Indias
first Education Minister with a cabinet rank where he achieved a number of
distinctions and established institutions of excellence to promote education and
culture. Among the new institutions he established were the three National
Academies viz the Sangeet Natak Academy (1953), Sahitya Academy (1954) and
Lalit Kala Academy (1954), the Indian Council for Cultural Relations having been
established by him earlier in 1950. The Maulana felt that the cultural content in
Indian Education was very low during the British rule and needs to be
strengthened through curriculum. As Chairman of the Central Advisory Board of
Education, an apex body to recommend to the Government educational reform
both at the center and the states including universities, he advocated, in
particular, universal primary education, free and compulsory for all children
upto the age of 14, girls education, vocational training, agricultural education
and technical education. He established University Grants Commission (UGC) in
1956 by an Act of Parliament for disbursement of grants and maintenance of
standards in Indian universities. He firmly believed that if the universities
discharged their functions well, all will be well with the Nation. According to him
the universities have not only academic functions, they have social
responsibilities as well. He was pioneer in the field of adult education. His
greatest contribution, however, is that in spite of being an eminent scholar of
Urdu, Persian and Arabic he stood for the retention of English language for
educational advantages and national and international needs. However primary
education should be imparted in the mother-tongue. On the technical education

side he strengthened All Indian Council for Technical Education. The Indian
Institute of Technology, Kharagpur was established in 1951 followed by a chain
of IITs at Bombay, Madras and Kanpur and Delhi. School of Planning and
Architecture came into existence at Delhi in 1955. If Maulana Azad were alive
today he would have been the happiest to see the Right to Free Education
enforced as a fundamental right. The wealth of the nation, according to Maulana
Azad, was not in the countrys banks but in primary schools. Maulana Abul Kalam
Azads Birthday 11th November has been declared as National Education Day
for his relentless contribution in Education system of India.
However, we are still miles to go to reach the goal and to fulfill what Maulana
Azad laid down as the objectives of the countrys educational policy towards the
general progress of the country.