New Delhi: In a significant development, the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has been granted the prestigious status of a deemed university, as announced by Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan during a special event marking the 63rd foundation day of NCERT in the national capital.
During the event, Minister Pradhan stated, “Today, I want to announce that we are granting the status of deemed to be university to NCERT.” He also emphasized the importance of merging Bal Bhavans and Bal Vatika with NCERT to offer a comprehensive education experience for children.
Established in 1961 under the Society Act, NCERT’s primary mission is to assist and advise the government in matters of school education. Notably, institutions of higher education, aside from universities, can be declared as ‘Deemed-to-be-university’ by the Central government upon the advice of the UGC, provided they maintain exceptionally high standards in their specific areas of study.
With this newfound status, NCERT will have the authority to offer its own graduate, postgraduate, and doctoral degree programs. Moreover, Education Minister Pradhan inaugurated three cutting-edge labs, including one dedicated to virtual reality education and another serving as a teacher training center.
In his address, Minister Pradhan drew parallels between the Chandrayaan-3 space mission and the National Education Policy, expressing his confidence that the new education policy would achieve the same level of success as the recent ISRO project. He attributed part of the credit for Chandrayaan-3’s success to NCERT, highlighting its role as the birthplace of innovative ideas for such projects.
