District level Teachers’ Day programme to start early in Mangaluru on September 5

His work on comparative religion and philosophy played a significant role in introducing Indian philosophy to the Western world and earned him the Spalding Professorship of Eastern Religions and Ethics at the University of Oxford. Radhakrishnan firmly believed in education as a transformative tool for society.

His widely quoted statement, "The aim of education is not the acquisition of information, although important, or acquisition of technical skills, though essential in modern society, but the development of that bent of mind, that attitude of reason, that spirit of democracy which will make us responsible citizens," highlights his philosophy.

Dr Radhakrishnan served as India's first Vice President from 1952 to 1962 and its second President from 1962 to 1967. On his 75th birthday on September 5, 1962, just weeks after he became President of India, Dr Radhakrishnan suggested the day should not be celebrated as a personal occasion but observed in honour of all those who pursue the noble profession of teaching.