National Teachers’ Day 2026: Why India celebrates it on September 5?

India celebrates Teachers’ Day on September 5 every year. Schools and colleges mark the day with programmes dedicated to teachers. Students often organise cultural events, performances and games for their teachers.

In many schools, senior students take classes for younger students, while teachers take a break from their usual classroom roles. In many schools, across states, students may even enact or mimic their teachers in a respectful manner, making the day a role reversal in which teachers become students and students become teachers.

But why September 5? The date is linked to Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, the scholar, philosopher and second President of India. He was born on September 5, 1888. The tradition of celebrating Teachers’ Day on his birthday began in 1962.

When his students and admirers wanted to celebrate his birthday after he became President, Radhakrishnan suggested that the day instead be observed as Teachers’ Day to honour the teaching profession.

His ideas about education remain relevant to the way Teachers’ Day is understood. In a speech on Teachers’ Day, former President Pranab Mukherjee quoted Radhakrishnan: “The aim of education is not the acquisition of information… but the development of that bent of mind, that attitude of reason, that spirit of democracy, which will make us responsible citizens.” This idea explains why Radhakrishnan remains closely associated with the day.

For him, education was not limited to textbooks, examinations or technical skills. It was also about developing independent thinking, reason and responsible citizenship. September 5, 2026 also marks the 51st death anniversary of Radhakrishnan, who died on April 17, 1975.

Soon after Independence, the government constituted the University Education Commission in 1948, with Radhakrishnan as its chairman. The commission examined the state of university education and suggested changes for India's future needs.

Its report became an important foundation for the development of higher education in independent India. The commission's recommendations influenced areas such as university education, teaching standards, research and academic organisation.

Government documents have also identified its 1948-49 report, along with the later Kothari Commission report, as a landmark foundation for subsequent education policy. The concept of institutions being recognised as “deemed to be universities” also originated from recommendations of the Radhakrishnan Commission.

Teachers’ Day 2026 will also see the presentation of the National Teachers’ Awards. President Droupadi Murmu will confer the awards on 48 school teachers in New Delhi, on September 5.

The awardees have been selected through a three-stage process at the district, state and national levels. They represent 27 states, seven Union Territories and six central government organisations.

The National Teachers’ Awards were instituted in 1958 and are given to recognise teachers who have made notable contributions to school education and enriched the lives of their students.

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