NEW DELHI: The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has been granted the status of deemed university, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan announced on Friday.
“Today, I want to announce that we are granting the status of deemed-to-be university to NCERT,” he said at an event to mark the 63rd foundation day of NCERT.
Established in 1961 under the Society Act, NCERT assists and advises the government in the matter of school education.
An institution of higher education, other than universities, working at a very high standard in a specific area of study, can be declared a ‘deemed-to-be university' by the central government on the advice of the University Grants Commission (UGC).
Such institutions enjoy the academic status and privileges of a university. It gives them a fillip to strengthen their academic activities in their specialized fields. Deemed-to-be universities, like other universities, have the autonomy of offering various courses and therefore, preparing students for various examinations and awards.
These institutions design their own syllabus and courses to prepare the students to foray into diverse fields after the completion of their study. There are over 125 deemed-to-be universities in India.
With this new status, NCERT will be able to offer its own graduate, postgraduate and doctoral degrees.
Pradhan suggested that NCERT could set up augmented reality, virtual reality and artificial intelligence labs in all its seven regional centres.
“To make India the global hub of research and innovation, these centres should be equipped with the latest technologies from around the world with future-ready infrastructure,” he added.
Pradhan also called for the merging of Bal Bhavans and Bal Vatika with the NCERT to 'provide holistic education to children.'
He also inaugurated three labs including a lab on virtual reality education and another on a teacher training center.
In his address, Pradhan drew parallels between the Chandrayaan-3 and the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 and said the new education policy would be as successful as the recent ISRO project.
“The credit for the Chandrayaan-3's successful handling should also go to NCERT as it is where the idea of such projects germinated," said Pradhan.
“NEP is like Chandrayaan-3. It would be successful. Nothing can stop it," he added. Also present at the event were Secretary, Department of School Education and Literacy, Sanjay Kumar; Director, NCERT, Prof. Dinesh Prasad Saklani; and senior officials of the union Education Ministry, NCERT, Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan, Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti and CBSE.
Pradhan also mentioned that children of the country should be ready for the Industrial Revolution 4.0 and suggested developing small booklets on varied subjects that will provide the facts on subjects like India’s Covid-19 management, Chandrayaan 3, etc.
“The new generations must be taught of the latest developments as well as Indian values and ethos,” he stressed.
The NCERT has recently formed a new committee to give shape to the curriculum and textbooks for classes 3 to 12.
The main goal of this committee is to align the curriculum with the National Curriculum Framework for School Education (NCF-SE). The curriculum was developed under the guidance of the K Kasturirangan-led steering committee as a part of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 implementation.
