On 5 September 2026 the President, Smt Droupadi Murmu, conferred the National Awards on Teachers in New Delhi and paid tribute to Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan on his birth anniversary. In her address she described education as the most effective means of realising the equality of opportunity promised by the Constitution, and credited teachers with bringing the primary-school dropout rate to a negligible level.
Teachers' Day is a fixture, and fixtures are where general-knowledge marks are lost by candidates who assume they already know the answer. Take the three layers in turn: the man, the offices he held, and how those offices are filled.
Radhakrishnan, precisely
| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 5 September 1888, Tiruttani, in present-day Tamil Nadu |
| Field | Philosophy — comparative religion and Indian thought; author of Indian Philosophy and The Hindu View of Life |
| Oxford | Spalding Professor of Eastern Religions and Ethics, 1936–52 |
| Universities | Vice-Chancellor of Andhra University and of Banaras Hindu University |
| Commission | Chaired the University Education Commission, 1948–49, whose recommendations led to the University Grants Commission |
| Diplomacy | Ambassador to the Soviet Union, 1949–52 |
| Vice-President | 1952–62 — the first holder of the office |
| President | 1962–67 — the second President |
| Honour | Bharat Ratna, 1954, among the very first recipients, alongside C. Rajagopalachari and C.V. Raman |
Teachers' Day has been observed on his birthday since 1962, the year he became President, at his own request that the day be marked for teachers rather than for him. It is distinct from World Teachers' Day, 5 October, instituted by UNESCO in 1994.
The National Awards to Teachers are given by the Ministry of Education; since 2018, teachers self-nominate online and pass through district, State and national juries before the President confers the awards on 5 September.
The offices, as a list
Radhakrishnan matters for the exam mainly as an entry in two lists that are asked every year.
Presidents of India
| No. | President | Term | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dr Rajendra Prasad | 1950–62 | Only President to serve two full terms |
| 2 | Dr S. Radhakrishnan | 1962–67 | |
| 3 | Dr Zakir Husain | 1967–69 | First to die in office |
| 4 | V.V. Giri | 1969–74 | Acting, then elected — the only President elected as an independent |
| 5 | Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed | 1974–77 | Died in office; signed the Emergency proclamation |
| 6 | Neelam Sanjiva Reddy | 1977–82 | Only President elected unopposed |
| 7 | Giani Zail Singh | 1982–87 | |
| 8 | R. Venkataraman | 1987–92 | |
| 9 | Dr Shankar Dayal Sharma | 1992–97 | |
| 10 | K.R. Narayanan | 1997–2002 | |
| 11 | Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam | 2002–07 | |
| 12 | Pratibha Patil | 2007–12 | First woman President |
| 13 | Pranab Mukherjee | 2012–17 | |
| 14 | Ram Nath Kovind | 2017–22 | |
| 15 | Droupadi Murmu | 2022– | First tribal President |
Vice-Presidents who became President: Radhakrishnan, Zakir Husain, V.V. Giri, R. Venkataraman, Shankar Dayal Sharma and K.R. Narayanan — six in all. The pattern was common in the first five decades and has not recurred since 1997; every President from Kalam onward came to the office without holding the Vice-Presidency.
How the two offices are filled
The constitutional mechanics are the examinable core, and the two elections differ in a way that is asked directly.
President (Articles 52–62). Elected by an electoral college of the elected members of both Houses of Parliament and the elected members of State Legislative Assemblies, including Delhi and Puducherry (Article 54). Nominated members do not vote. Voting is by proportional representation with the single transferable vote, by secret ballot, and the value of each vote is weighted so that States and the Union carry equal total weight (Article 55). Term five years; oath before the Chief Justice of India; removable by impeachment (Article 61) for violation of the Constitution, requiring a two-thirds majority of the total membership of each House.
Vice-President (Articles 63–71). Elected by the members of both Houses of Parliament — including nominated members — sitting together, also by proportional representation with the single transferable vote. State legislatures play no part. The Vice-President is ex officio Chairman of the Rajya Sabha (Article 64), acts as President during a vacancy for up to six months, and can be removed by a Rajya Sabha resolution passed by a majority of all its then members and agreed to by the Lok Sabha — there is no impeachment for the Vice-President.
The two differences to memorise: the President's college includes State MLAs and excludes nominated MPs; the Vice-President's includes nominated MPs and excludes MLAs. Options are built by swapping those.
Why an NDA candidate should know the philosopher, not just the list
Radhakrishnan's public argument was that a State's strength rests on its teachers before its soldiers, and that education is what makes citizens capable of the equality the Constitution declares. The President's address this year restated exactly that — education as the instrument of equality of opportunity — and credited a negligible primary dropout rate to the profession. For an interview board, the connection between a philosopher-President, a constitutional promise and a measurable outcome is worth one clear sentence: the Constitution guarantees the opportunity; teachers are how the guarantee is kept.
🔑 Revision block
- Teachers' Day, 5 September: birth anniversary of Dr S. Radhakrishnan (b. 1888, Tiruttani); observed since 1962. World Teachers' Day = 5 October (UNESCO).
- Radhakrishnan: philosopher; Spalding Professor, Oxford (1936–52); VC of Andhra University and BHU; chaired the University Education Commission 1948–49 → UGC; Ambassador to the USSR 1949–52; first Vice-President 1952–62; second President 1962–67; Bharat Ratna 1954 (with Rajagopalachari and C.V. Raman).
- National Awards to Teachers — Ministry of Education; online self-nomination since 2018; conferred by the President on 5 September.
- Presidents: Prasad (two terms) → Radhakrishnan → Zakir Husain (died in office) → Giri (independent) → Ahmed (died in office; Emergency) → Reddy (unopposed) → Zail Singh → Venkataraman → Sharma → Narayanan → Kalam → Patil (first woman) → Mukherjee → Kovind → Murmu (first tribal).
- Six VPs became President: Radhakrishnan, Husain, Giri, Venkataraman, Sharma, Narayanan.
- President: college of elected MPs + elected MLAs (Art. 54); nominated members excluded; PR-STV; impeachment, Art. 61, two-thirds of total membership of each House.
- Vice-President: both Houses including nominated members, no MLAs; ex officio Chairman of the Rajya Sabha (Art. 64); removed by Rajya Sabha resolution agreed to by the Lok Sabha — no impeachment.
🎯 Practice MCQs
Q1. Teachers' Day in India marks the birth anniversary of: (a) Rajendra Prasad (b) S. Radhakrishnan (c) Zakir Husain (d) Maulana Azad → (b).
Q2. Radhakrishnan served as India's first: (a) President (b) Vice-President (c) Education Minister (d) Chief Justice → (b), 1952–62.
Q3. The first President of India to die in office was: (a) Radhakrishnan (b) Zakir Husain (c) Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed (d) V.V. Giri → (b), in 1969.
Q4. Which President was elected unopposed? (a) V.V. Giri (b) Neelam Sanjiva Reddy (c) R. Venkataraman (d) K.R. Narayanan → (b), 1977.
Q5. Nominated members of Parliament vote in the election of the: (a) President only (b) Vice-President only (c) both (d) neither → (b).
Q6. The electoral college for the President includes: (a) all MPs and all MLAs (b) elected MPs and elected MLAs (c) elected MPs only (d) MPs, MLAs and MLCs → (b) — Article 54.
Q7. The Vice-President is ex officio Chairman of the: (a) Lok Sabha (b) Rajya Sabha (c) NITI Aayog (d) Inter-State Council → (b) — Article 64.
Q8. Impeachment of the President is provided under: (a) Article 56 (b) Article 58 (c) Article 61 (d) Article 72 → (c).
Q9. The University Education Commission of 1948–49 was chaired by: (a) Zakir Husain (b) S. Radhakrishnan (c) D.S. Kothari (d) Maulana Azad → (b).
Q10. How many Vice-Presidents have gone on to become President? (a) four (b) five (c) six (d) eight → (c).
Q11. Consider the following: 1. The Vice-President can be removed by impeachment. 2. State legislatures take part in electing the Vice-President. (a) 1 only (b) 2 only (c) Both (d) Neither → (d).
Q12. World Teachers' Day is observed on: (a) 5 September (b) 5 October (c) 11 November (d) 24 January → (b).
📋 How this gets asked (PYQ pattern)
Head-of-State questions run in four shapes. The list item — a President matched to a term, a "first", or an event during the tenure. The election item — who votes for the President against the Vice-President, with nominated members and MLAs as the swapped elements. The removal item — impeachment for the President under Article 61 against the resolution route for the Vice-President. The biography item — a personality's posts in order, with Radhakrishnan the most frequent subject.
The fresh 2026 hook is the National Awards ceremony and the President's dropout-rate remark, but the durable content is the two lists. A statement pair on Radhakrishnan's two offices is the likeliest single item. As always, we describe the recurring pattern, not any exact past question.
Preparing for the NDA? The Presidents' list is fifteen names and five "firsts" — learn it once and it pays every year. Build the base with our notes on the Union executive and the President and the NDA general knowledge notes, follow the daily NDA current affairs, and train with our ex-officer faculty in the upcoming Cavalier courses in Delhi.
✍️ Written by Maj Sunil Chopra — Defence studies faculty at The Cavalier. Reviewed by the Cavalier Faculty Desk. The Cavalier, founded by ex-Army officers, has trained NDA/CDS/SSB aspirants since 2001 (Facebook · YouTube).
Source: PIB / President's Secretariat, 5 September 2026. Constitutional provisions and biographical facts cross-verified with independent sources.