The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has been formally granted “deemed-to-be university” status, enabling it to award its own degrees, according to an official notification issued by the Ministry of Education.

Acting on the advice of the University Grants Commission (UGC), the Centre has accorded the status to NCERT along with its six constituent institutions under a distinct category.

These include the Regional Institutes of Education (RIEs) in Ajmer, Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Mysuru and Shillong, as well as the Pandit Sunderlal Sharma Central Institute of Vocational Education in Bhopal.

With this move, NCERT — India’s apex body for school education — will gain academic autonomy to design and run its own undergraduate, postgraduate, research and doctoral programmes, moving beyond its current system of affiliating with local universities.

The decision follows an earlier approval by the Centre to grant NCERT deemed university status under the “De Novo” category, which allows institutions to undertake research in emerging and specialised areas not widely offered elsewhere.

At present, courses offered by NCERT’s RIEs are affiliated with universities such as Barkatullah University, Bhopal; MDS University, Ajmer; University of Mysuru; Utkal University, Bhubaneswar; and North-Eastern Hill University, Shillong.

The notification lays down strict conditions, barring NCERT from engaging in commercial or profit-driven activities and requiring all academic programmes to comply with UGC norms and standards. Any new courses or campuses — whether domestic or offshore — must also adhere to UGC guidelines.

The government has further directed NCERT to expand its academic scope by launching research and doctoral programmes, and to participate in national institutional rankings under the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF).

Additionally, the institution has been asked to implement the Academic Bank of Credits (ABC) system, create digital academic identities for students, and ensure their credit records are uploaded to the ABC portal.

The move is expected to significantly strengthen NCERT’s role in higher education, particularly in teacher training, curriculum development, and educational research.

With PTI inputs