The Center has given the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) the status of an institution that is deemed to be a university under a distinct category, enabling it to offer degree programs in higher education independently. The decision comes under the announcement of the Union Ministry of Education and is supposed to enhance teacher training and research in education according to the objectives of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
This new status will enable NCERT to introduce a broad variety of academic programmes such as diploma, undergraduate, postgraduate, doctoral and specialised education programmes. Concurrently, it will remain in its traditional roles of coming up with school curriculums and academic materials in the country.
The officials clarified that the special category recognition is to recognize the national role and expertise that NCERT holds in education which is not similar to that of traditional universities and provide it with more academic and administrative freedom. Such transformation will allow the institution to design, introduce and administer courses without necessarily having to be affiliated to other universities.
In the past NCERT used to run teacher training programmes with its Regional Institute of Education (RIEs) that were connected with universities like Barkatullah University, University of Mysore, and Utkal University. These affiliations demanded external certifications on new courses.
As per the new framework, NCERT also has the option of developing off-campus and offshore centres, which are subject to the guidelines that are provided by the University Grants Commission. It is hoped that the decision will improve the teacher education ecosystem in India and facilitate the educational innovation in the country.