The 63rd foundation day of the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) marked a special occasion as the council has been awarded a ‘Deemed-to-be-university’ status. The announcement was made by the Minister of Education, Dharmendra Pradhan, on Friday 1st September, 2023. As a‘deemed-to-be-university’, NCERT will now have the academic status and all the privileges of a university. It can also award graduate, postgraduate, and doctoral degrees.

The Central government can follow the advice of the UGC to confer the ‘deemed-to-be-university’ status to an Institution of Higher Education working at an exceptionally high standard in a specific field of study. NCERT was founded in 1961 under the Society Act to advise and assist the Indian government in matters regarding school education. Over the years, it has come a long way, paving the way for this grand achievement.

Besides making this key announcement, Pradhan inaugurated three labs, including one on a teacher training center and another on virtual reality education. He also raised the subject of providing holistic education to children through the merging of Bal Vatikas and Bal Bhavans with the NCERT. Further, he highlighted the similarities between the National Education Policy and the Chandrayaan-3, stating that the new education policy would reach the same heights as the recent ISRO project.

Earlier, the NCERT formed a new committee to shape the textbooks and curriculum for classes 3 to 12. The committee will be responsible for aligning the curriculum with the National Curriculum Framework for School Education (NCF-SE). It includes prestigious members such as singer Shankar Mahadevan and Infosys Foundation chair Sudha Murthy.