New Delhi, April 3
The National Council for Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has been formally declared a deemed-to-be university, empowering it to award its own degrees, officials said.
“The Ministry of Education, on the advice of the University Grants Commission (UGC), has declared NCERT and its six constituent units as a deemed-to-be university under a distinct category,” an official notification stated.
The constituent units include Regional Institutes of Education in Ajmer, Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Mysuru, and Shillong, along with the Pandit Sunderlal Sharma Central Institute of Vocational Education in Bhopal.
As India’s apex body for school education, NCERT is responsible for educational research and innovation, curriculum development, and the creation of textbooks and teaching-learning materials.
Three years ago, the Centre had approved granting NCERT deemed-to-be-university status under the ‘De Novo’ category. Such institutions can establish new centres of learning in emerging or unique fields not offered by existing universities.
The notification includes conditions prohibiting NCERT from engaging in commercial or profit-making activities. All academic programmes must comply with UGC norms and standards set by statutory bodies. Additionally, any new programmes—on-campus, off-campus, or overseas—must follow UGC guidelines.
Currently, NCERT’s graduate and postgraduate courses, offered through its Regional Institutes of Education (REIs), are affiliated with local universities including Barkatullah University (Bhopal), MDS University (Ajmer), University of Mysuru, Utkal University (Bhubaneswar), and North-Eastern Hill University (Shillong).
The Ministry has instructed NCERT to initiate research and doctoral programmes, as well as other innovative academic initiatives. The council will also participate in the National Institutional Ranking Framework and create an Academic Bank of Credits (ABC) to digitally track student records and credit scores.
