New Delhi, Sep 1 (Agency) The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has been granted the status of deemed university, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said on Friday. The minister made the announcement at an event to mark the 63rd foundation day of NCERT in the national capital. “Today, I want to announce that we are granting the status of deemed to be university to NCERT,” he said. Mr Pradhan also called for the merging of Bal Bhavans and Bal Vatika with the NCERT to “provide holistic education to children.” NCERT was established in 1961 under the Society Act to assist and advise the government in the matter of school education. An Institution of Higher Education, other than universities, working at a very high standard in a specific area of study, can be declared by the Central government on the advice of the UGC as an Institution ‘Deemed-to-be-university’.
Institutions that are ‘deemed-to-be-university’ enjoy the academic status and privileges of a university. With the deemed university status, NCERT will offer its own graduate, postgraduate and doctoral degrees. Mr Pradhan inaugurated three labs including a lab on virtual reality education and another on teacher training centre. During his address, Pradhan drew parallels between the Chandrayaan-3 and the National Education Policy and said the new education policy would be as successful as the recent ISRO project. “The credit for the Chandrayaan-3’s successful handling should also go to NCERT as it is where the idea of such projects germinate,” said Mr Pradhan. “NEP is like Chandrayaan-3. It would be successful. Nothing can stop it,” he added.