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Teachers’ Day in India is celebrated on September 5^th of every year to commemorate the birthday of Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan. He was the first Vice President of India (1952-1962), and the second President of India (1962-1967). Radhakrishnan was one of India's most acclaimed scholars of comparative religion and philosophy. He is considered through his efforts to have built a bridge between East and West by having shown the philosophical systems of each tradition to be comprehensible within the terms of the other. He wrote authoritative exegesis/journal of India's religious and philosophical literature for the English speaking world.

When he became President, some of his students and friends requested him to allow them to celebrate his birthday, September 5th. He replied, "Instead of celebrating my birthday, it would be my proud privilege if 5th September is observed as Teachers' Day". His birthday has since been celebrated as Teachers' Day in India. Teachers’ Day is also celebrated in various other countries across the world on various dates, a day which is intended to be a special day for the appreciation of teachers. Also, World Teachers' Day is held annually on 5th October since 1994 to commemorate teachers’ organizations worldwide.

Its aim is to mobilize support for teachers and to ensure that the needs of future generations will continue to be met by teachers. According to UNESCO, World Teachers' Day represents a significant token of the awareness, understanding and appreciation displayed for the vital contribution that teachers make to education and development. Education International (EI), the global union federation that represents education professionals worldwide, strongly believes that World Teachers' Day should be internationally recognized and celebrated around the world. Every year, EI launches a public awareness campaign to highlight the contributions of the teaching profession.

On this day, students show their appreciation to the teachers by wishing them and presenting the gifts including cards and flowers. Also, at some schools/institutions on this day, the responsibility of teaching is taken up by the senior students as an appreciation for their teachers.

Many many happy returns of the day.

# posted by Srikanth @ 5:11 PM