National Education Day 2021: From Abul Kalam Azad to Dharmendra Pradhan, qualifications of education ministers

In India, National Education Day is celebrated every year on 11 November. The day is marked to commemorate the birth anniversary of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, who was the first Union Education Minister of India. India’s Ministry of Human Resource Development, which is now known as the Ministry of Education ,  in 2008 announced that the birth anniversary of Abul Kalam Azad will be observed as National Education Day every year. Since then, this special day has been marked all over the country annually. On this occasion, below are a few details on the educational qualifications of some of our education ministers: Maulana Abul Kalam Azad: He was not only a freedom fighter, an eminent educationist, and a journalist but also the first Union Minister of Education of independent India. Despite being home-schooled, Azad mastered many languages including English, Arabic, Persian, and Bengali. Since his childhood, he was an avid and determined student who was trained in subjects such as World History, Science, Mathematics, and Philosophy. During his youth, Azad was active in journalism and began publishing a weekly Urdu newspaper in Calcutta called the Al-Hilal (The Crescent). He also established several institutions including Jamia Millia Islamia in Delhi. Mallipudi Mangapati Pallam Raju: In the Central Government, he was the 27th Union Minister for Human Resources Development (HRD). During the tenure of former prime minister Manmohan Singh’s government in 2012, Pallam Raju was a part of his important team. As per his education and qualification, Pallam Raju completed his schooling in 1979 at the Hyderabad Public School, Begumpet (HPS). He joined college and earned his undergraduate (UG) degree in the year 1983 in Electronics and Communication Engineering from Andhra University, Visakhapatnam. After completing his degree, he took up MBA in 1985 from the Fox School of Business and Management at Temple University, Philadelphia, USA. Smriti Irani: After Pallam Raju, Smriti Irani became the 28th Education Minister. She was in office for two years and 40 days. As per her early education, she studied at the Holy Child Auxilium School in New Delhi. Following that she enrolled herself in the School of Open Learning at the University of Delhi. Later due to a few controversies, she opened up stating that she had written her first-year BCom examination but could not complete the three-year degree course. Prakash Javadekar: Then came Javadekar in July 2016, who was the 29th Education Minister of India. He holds a BCom degree from the University of Pune, now known as Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU). Ramesh Pokhriyal: After Javadekar, Pokhriyal took over in 2019. He was the 30th Education Minister of the country. He was born in Uttarakhand’s Panini village and holds an MA degree from the Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna Garhwal University. Pokhriyal joined the ministry as HRD Minister but resigned as an Education Minister. Furthermore, the name of the ministry was changed during his tenure. Dharmendra Pradhan: Pradhan is the Minister of Education. He is also the minister of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship as well. Pradhan was born in Odisha and holds a postgraduate (PG) degree in Anthropology from Utkal University in Bhubaneswar. He is also the longest-serving Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas in the country. Due to his hard work and passion, Pradhan is also known as the ‘Ujjwala Man’.