The Crossbill News Desk
The Union government has granted deemed-to-be university status to the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT), marking a significant institutional shift that will allow the apex school education body to independently offer academic programmes and award degrees.
The decision was formalised through a notification issued by the Union Education Ministry on March 30, according to a report by The Hindu.
The notification follows the approval granted earlier this year by the University Grants Commission (UGC), which in January accepted the recommendations of an expert committee advocating the conferment of deemed university status on NCERT. With the latest order, the status extends not only to NCERT’s headquarters but also to its six regional institutes, subject to compliance with prescribed conditions.
The government has made it clear that the institution must operate strictly within academic and public education objectives.
The conditions prevent the NCERT from indulging in any activities that are “commercial” and “profit-making” in nature. They also mandate that all academic courses or programmes must conform to the norms and standards prescribed by the UGC and the concerned statutory bodies or councils.
Under the notification, the institution has been permitted to introduce new academic initiatives, including programmes outside its main campus or even overseas centres, but “only in accordance with the norms and guidelines issued by the UGC, from time to time, on the subject.”
The Education Ministry has also directed that the NCERT “shall take appropriate steps” to begin research programmes, doctoral programmes, and “innovative academic programmes”.
The notification further emphasised that NCERT should not confine itself to what are currently the new emerging areas and instead try to expand into other domains which are in accordance with UGC guidelines and regulations and the National Education Policy of 2020.
Following its elevation to deemed university status, the government has instructed the institution to integrate more closely with national higher education systems. NCERT has been asked to participate in the annual rankings released under the National Institutional Ranking Framework and to “compulsorily” create Academic Bank of Credits (ABC), identities of its students.
It has also been directed to upload student credit records in digital lockers so they can be reflected on the ABC portal.
The decision was formalised through a notification issued by the Union Education Ministry on March 30, according to a report by The Hindu.
The notification follows the approval granted earlier this year by the University Grants Commission (UGC), which in January accepted the recommendations of an expert committee advocating the conferment of deemed university status on NCERT. With the latest order, the status extends not only to NCERT’s headquarters but also to its six regional institutes, subject to compliance with prescribed conditions.
The government has made it clear that the institution must operate strictly within academic and public education objectives.
The conditions prevent the NCERT from indulging in any activities that are “commercial” and “profit-making” in nature. They also mandate that all academic courses or programmes must conform to the norms and standards prescribed by the UGC and the concerned statutory bodies or councils.
Under the notification, the institution has been permitted to introduce new academic initiatives, including programmes outside its main campus or even overseas centres, but “only in accordance with the norms and guidelines issued by the UGC, from time to time, on the subject.”
The Education Ministry has also directed that the NCERT “shall take appropriate steps” to begin research programmes, doctoral programmes, and “innovative academic programmes”.
The notification further emphasised that NCERT should not confine itself to what are currently the new emerging areas and instead try to expand into other domains which are in accordance with UGC guidelines and regulations and the National Education Policy of 2020.
Following its elevation to deemed university status, the government has instructed the institution to integrate more closely with national higher education systems. NCERT has been asked to participate in the annual rankings released under the National Institutional Ranking Framework and to “compulsorily” create Academic Bank of Credits (ABC), identities of its students.
It has also been directed to upload student credit records in digital lockers so they can be reflected on the ABC portal.
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