By RINA,
New Delhi: A circular from union ministry of human resource development informed all educational institutions of the country to observe November 11, the date of birth of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, the first education minister of India, as ‘Education Day’. Besides cultural programs, several new initiatives are being announced by various concerned institutions on this connection.
State secretary of All India Urdu Taleemi Committee, Mukhtar Siddiqui announced here that along with Education Day celebrations on November 11, the organization will also commemorate Maulana Abul Kalam Azad’s birthday in weeklong programs in various states of the country from November 11 till November 19. Different units of the organizations will organize students’ rallies, written and oratory competitions, cultural functions and seminars on ‘Maulana Abul Kalam Azad: Services and Personality’.
Thanking union HRD minister Arjun Singh for declaring Maulana Azad’s birthday as Education Day, the president of Delhi’s educational and social welfare organization ‘Sajhedari’ (partnership) Mahmood Ahmad Siddiqui said, “Maulana worked tirelessly for progress and popularization of education and accomplished unparalleled goals.” General Secretary of the organization Syed Mujibur Rahman said, “Central theme of Maulana Azad’s educational philosophy was learning both Western and Eastern viewpoints.” The organization distributed Urdu books on various topics on this occasion.
In Bihar, the principal secretary of the state government’s HRD ministry Anjani Kumar announced several scholarship schemes on this occasion. He told that 1129 boy and girl students have qualified the examinations held for scholarship under union government’s National Means-cum-Merit Scholarship(NMMS) and the students who have passed eighth class will be given the scholarship worth rupees five hundred from class ninth till class twelfth. The principal secretary was addressing a press conference called in Patna’s Gandhi Maidan during Education Day celebrations there.
Mr. Anjani Kumar told that next examination will be held from November 16 so that Bihar’s quota could be filled. He also announced that besides general schools, students from affiliated Madrasas and Sanskirit Board will also be eligible for this examination. However, these students should have passed class eighth or equivalent with 55 per cent marks, be studying in class ninth and their parents’ income should not exceed rupees one lac fifty thousand per annum. SC/St and disabled students will be given a relaxation of 5 per cent marks.
He told that in all one lakh boy and girl students will be given NMMS scholarships all over India, out of which Bihar’s quota has been fixed at 5433. Selected students will be given rupees 60,000 per annum. Bihar government also has schemes for awarding students achieving record success in science, mathematics and other Olympiads.
Mr. Anjani Kumar told that Noor Mohammad s/o Abdul Majeed of Madrasa Islamia in Chanpatia (West Champaran) is one of the three toppers from Bihar in this examination. Among girl students, Thana AliWarisi d/o Asghar Ali from ANV Bikram school of Patna has topped. He told that the chief minister Nitish Kumar will award the Bihari toppers of combined examinations for admission to engineering and medical colleges.