New Delhi: The Union Ministry of Education has announced the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) as an Institution Deemed to be University, under distinct category. This would give the NCERT the right to design and run courses and award degrees in its own name, reported The Hindu.
Notification of the Ministry
ANI quoted the Ministry notification with regards to granting NCERT the status of ‘Deemed to be University’. It read, “An online application was uploaded on UGC Portal for grant of Institution deemed to be University status under distinct category to National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT), Sri Aurobindo Marg, New Delhi with the following six constituent units under Section 3 of the UGC Act, 1956:
Regional Institute of Education, Ajmer, Rajasthan
Regional Institute of Education, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh
Regional Institute of Education, Bhubaneswar, Odisha
Regional Institute of Education, Manasagangotri, Mysore, Karnataka
North East Regional Institute of Education, Shillong, Meghalaya
Pandit Sunderlal Sharma Central Institute of Vocational Education, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh.
The University Grants Commission (UGC) however recommended the issuance of Letter to Intent [Lol) to NCERT with certain conditions. The recommendations of the UGC expert committee were considered and approved by the Commission.
The move comes months after the UGC accepted the expert committee’s recommendation to grant NCERT the status of a deemed to be university. This was in January. The Ministry has issued an official notification to this effect.
Conditions for NCERT
However, the ‘Deemed to be University’ status comes with certain conditions. NCERT has been prohibited from undertaking any “commercial” or “profit making” activities by the Ministry of Education. All academic programmes offered by it, must comply with all necessary UGC regulations or other statutory authorities in the country.
The enhanced autonomy of NCERT however must be exercised within existing norms governing higher education in India. They will have to comply with national regulatory norms.
NCERT would also need to comply with UGC norms in setting up any new offshore campuses or if it wishes to start any new courses. The Ministry also asked them to “take appropriate steps” to start research programmes, doctoral courses, and “innovative academic programmes”. This means that the government is hoping to build it as a strong centre for higher education and educational research.
In order to uphold transparency, the Ministry asked NCERT to take accreditation on several levels. Its academic courses and programmes will be assessed by National Board of Accreditation, while the institution itself will seek accreditation from National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) like other Universities and colleges in the country.