NCERT To Launch MA, PhD Courses

'Now that NCERT has received the status of a deemed university, it will start its own MA courses, postgraduate courses, and doctoral research in education, fully funded by the government.'

The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT), the national school curriculum body, is likely to rollout its own Master's and PhD programmes in education from next year, according to people aware of the matter.

This follows change of its status to deemed-to-be University last month.

NCERT Gets Deemed University Status

The proposed programmes are expected to focus on areas including teacher education, curriculum studies, and educational research, marking a significant shift for NCERT, which has historically functioned as the country's apex body for school curriculum development, textbook preparation, and educational research, but has not independently awarded higher education degrees.

"Now that NCERT has received the status of a deemed university, it will start its own MA courses, postgraduate courses, and doctoral research in education, fully funded by the government," said a senior official.

"It will not happen immediately as it is an old institution and will need to be remodelled and restructured.

"However, the courses will likely be rolled out next year as time is of essence," the official added.

NCERT was granted deemed-to-be University status by the Union education ministry in April, following approval by the University Grants Commission (UGC), allowing the school curriculum body to award degrees in its own name for the first time.

The status covers NCERT headquarters and six constituent institutions -- five Regional Institutes of Education (RIEs) and the Pandit Sunderlal Sharma Central Institute of Vocational Education (PSSCIVE), Bhopal.

Regional Institutes To Lead Classes

People familiar with the plans said physical classroom programmes are likely to be conducted through NCERT's headquarters along with the five RIEs in Ajmer, Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Mysuru, and Shillong.

In RIEs, these programmes operated under affiliations with universities, which awarded the final degrees, while NCERT provided instruction and academic support.

The five RIEs operate under different affiliating universities -- Maharshi Dayanand Saraswati University, Barkatullah University, Utkal University, University of Mysore, and North-Eastern Hill University -- which have traditionally awarded degrees to their students.

However, these affiliations are programme-specific and have varied over time, depending on regulatory approvals and course structures, rather than being fixed one-to-one institutional arrangements.

"They will conduct research in the pedagogy of education and the courses will focus on that as well," the official said.

New Chapter For NCERT

Officials indicated that existing faculty members are likely to support the rollout of the programmes initially, though further hiring of faculty and scholars may be required to scale up postgraduate teaching and doctoral supervision.

For the first time, the school curriculum body can award degrees independently.

Physical classroom likely to be conducted through NCERT's headquarters and its five regional institutes.

Existing teachers to help in initial rollout; new hires to join forces at later stage.

Feature Presentation: Ashish Narsale/Rediff