The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) is an

autonomous In developmental psychology and moral, political, and bioethical philosophy, autonomy, from , ''autonomos'', from αὐτο- ''auto-'' "self" and νόμος ''nomos'', "law", hence when combined understood to mean "one who gives oneself one's ow ...

organisation of the

Government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, ...

which was established in 1961 as a literary, scientific and charitable Society under the Societies Registration Act. Its headquarters are located at Sri Aurbindo Marg in

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament Ho ...

. Roshan is Director of the council since 2022.

History

The Government of India's

Ministry of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...

resolved on 27 July 1961 to establish the National Council of Educational Research and Training, which formally began operation on 1 September 1961. The Council was formed by merging seven existing national government institutions, namely the Central Institute of Education, the Central Bureau of Textbook Research, the Central Bureau of Educational and Vocational Guidance, the Directorate of Extension Programmes for Secondary Education, the National Institute of Basic Education, the National Fundamental Education Centre, and the National Institute of Audio-Visual Education. It is separate from the

National Council for Teacher Education National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) is a statutory body of Indian government set-up under the National Council for Teacher Education Act, 1993 (#73, 1993) in 1995 is to formally oversee standards, procedures and processes in the Ind ...

. It is the objective of the NCERT to design and support a common system of education for the country that is national in character, as well as to enable and encourage the diverse cultural practices across the country as a whole. Based on the recommendations of the Education Commission(1964–66), the first national policy statement on education was issued in 1968. The policy endorsed the adoption of a uniform pattern of school education across the country consisting of 10 years of general education program followed by 2 years of diversified schooling. The NCERT is also behind the formation of the

National Science Talent Search Scheme In education, an entrance examination or admission examination is an examination that educational institutions conduct to select prospective students. It may be held at any stage of education, from primary to tertiary, even though it is typicall ...

(NTSS) in the year 1963. The program was aimed at identifying, nurturing the talented students in India, and rewarding them with

scholarship A scholarship is a form of financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, diversity and inclusion, athletic skill, and financial need. Scholars ...

s. The National

Science Science is a systematic endeavor that Scientific method, builds and organizes knowledge in the form of Testability, testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earli ...

Talent Search Scheme (NTSS) underwent a major change in the year 1976 with the introduction of the 10+2+3 pattern of

education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty ...

. The program was renamed to National Talent Search Scheme with the NTSE examination now being conducted for classes X, XI, and XII. Currently, the NTSE exam is conducted only for 10th class students in India in two phases with subjects relating to Mental Ability Test and Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) for 100 marks each.

The Curriculum for the Ten-year school

This framework came in 1975. It emphasized that a curriculum based on the principles laid out in the framework has to be developed on the basis of research. Thus for NCERT, the 1970s was a decade flushed with curriculum research and development activities to narrate the content and process of education to Indian realities.

National Curriculum for Elementary and Secondary Education

This revised curriculum framework was implemented in 1988 following the '' 1986 National Policy on Education''. It encompassed 12 years of school education and suggested a reorientation of curricular and instructional materials to make them more child-centered. It advocated returning out examination reforms and the implementation of CCE at all stages of education.

National Curriculum Framework for School Education

This framework came in 2000. It stressed the need for a healthful, agreeable, and stress-free adolescence and reduction of the curricular contents. Thus a multicultural thematic approach was recommended, environmental education was pronounced upon and language and mathematics got desegregated in the first two years of education. National Curriculum Framework: The council came up with a new National Curriculum Framework in 2005, drafted by a National Steering Committee. This exercise was based on 5 guiding principles: # Connecting knowledge to life outside school. # Shift from the rote method of learning. # Enriching the curriculum for the overall development of children so that it goes beyond textbooks. # Making examinations flexible and integrating them with classroom life. and, # Nurturing an identity informed by caring concerns. In 2021, NCERT textbooks revision process was initiated by the Government of India by setting up a committee headed by former ISRO chief K Kasturirangan to prepare a document laying down various guidelines for changes in the curriculum of the council. NCERT

Logo

The design of the NCERT logo is taken from an Ashokan period relic of the 3rd century BCE which was found in excavations near

Maski Maski is a town and an archaeological site in the Raichur district of the state of Karnataka, India.Amalananda Ghosh (1990), p282 It lies on the bank of the Maski river which is a tributary of the Tungabhadra. Maski derives its name from Mahas ...

Raichur district Raichur District is an administrative district in the Indian state of Karnataka. It is located in the northeast part of the state and is bounded by Yadgir district in the north, Bijapur and Bagalkot district in the northwest, Koppal district ...

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...

. The motto has been taken from the Isha Upanishad and means 'life eternal through learning'. The three intertwined

swans Swans are birds of the family Anatidae within the genus ''Cygnus''. The swans' closest relatives include the geese and ducks. Swans are grouped with the closely related geese in the subfamily Anserinae where they form the tribe Cygnini. Someti ...

symbolize the integration of the three aspects of the work of NCERT, namely research & development, training and extension.

Textbooks

Textbooks published by NCERT are prescribed by the

Central Board of Secondary Education The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) is a national level board of education in India for public and private schools, controlled and managed by the Government of India. Established in 1929 by a resolution of the government, the Board ...

(CBSE) from classes I to XII, with exceptions for a few subjects, especially for the Class 10 and 12 Board Examination. Around 19 school boards from 14 states have adopted or adapted the books. Those who wish to adopt the textbooks are required to send a request to NCERT, upon which soft copies of the books are received. The material is press-ready and may be printed by paying a 5% royalty, and by acknowledging NCERT. The textbooks are in color-print and are among the least expensive books in Indian book stores. Textbooks created by private publishers are priced higher than those of NCERT. According to a government policy decision in 2017, the NCERT will have the exclusive task of publishing central textbooks from 2018, and the role of CBSE will be limited to conducting examinations. National Council of Educational Research and Training had designed the books digitally in the Indian Sign Language from year 2021 for students with hearing disabilities from classes 1 to 5.

Regional Institutes of Education

The Regional Institute of Education (RIE, formerly known as Regional College of Education), is a constituent unit of the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT), New Delhi. The RIEs are set up in 1963 by the Government of India in different parts covering various regions. The Regional Institutes were started with the objective of qualitative improvement of school education through innovative pre-service and in-service teacher education programs and relevant research, development, and extension activities. The Regional Institutes of Education (RIEs) are located at Ajmer, Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Mysore and Shillong.

Actions

NCERT has a comprehensive extension program in which departments of the National Institute of Education, Regional Institute of Education, Central Institute of Vocational Education, and field coaches' offices in the states are engaged in activities. Several programs are organized in rural and backward areas to reach out to functionaries in these areas. The council acts as the Secretariat of the National Development Group for Educational Innovations. It has been offering training facilities to education workers of other countries through attachment programs and workshops. The council publishes textbooks for school subjects from classes I to XII. NCERT publishes books & provides sample question papers that are used in government and private schools across India that follow the CBSE curriculum. An online system named e-pathshala, a joint initiative of NCERT and Ministry of Human Resource Development, has been developed for broadcasting educational e-schooling resources including textbooks, audio, video, publications, and a variety of other print and non-print elements, ensuring their free access through mobile phones and tablets (as EPUB) and from the web through laptops and desktops. National Council of Educational Research and Training had launched a new Diploma course in Guidance and Counselling for a period of one year from 1 November 2021. National Council of Educational Research and Training had tied up with Microsoft’s global training partner, Tech Avant-Garde (TAG) and facilitated a Connected Learning Community (CLC) for improving digital skills among its teachers.

Controversies

Ever since its establishment, the organization has faced a great deal of controversy and continues to do so today. The disagreement centers around accusations of, on the one hand, the leftist bias of books, and on the other of suppressing the cultural and heritage history of India and attempted saffronizing of Indian history. Allegations of historical revisionism with a Hindu nationalist plan arose in two terms: under the

Janata Party The Janata Party ( JP, lit. ''People's Party'') was a political party that was founded as an amalgam of Indian political parties opposed to the Emergency that was imposed between 1975 and 1977 by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi of the Indian Nati ...

government 1977 to 1980 and again under the

Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under Narendra Mod ...

government from 1998 to 2004. In 2012, the organization has been blamed for publishing 'undefensive' cartoons against B.R. Ambedkar, the architect of the Indian Constitution and thus lodging an insult to the Constitution, in its textbooks. The controversy led to the resignation of NCERT chief advisors Yogendra Yadav and Suhas Palshikar and an apology from the government. Again in 2022, a new controversy started when both CBSE and NCERT removed topics regarding Islamic Empires in the class 12 history textbook and chapters like “Challenges to Democracy” in the class 10 political science subject and many others, saying it is necessary to reduce syllabus to reduce examination pressure on students. According to historian Sadanand More, the NCERT, as the zenith organization that provides advice and support for the improvement of school education, has been avoiding mentioning in school history books that about half of the

Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a list of the physiographic regions of the world, physiographical region in United Nations geoscheme for Asia#Southern Asia, Southern Asia. It is situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian O ...

was ruled by the

Maratha Empire The Maratha Empire, also referred to as the Maratha Confederacy, was an early modern Indian confederation that came to dominate much of the Indian subcontinent in the 18th century. Maratha rule formally began in 1674 with the coronation of Sh ...

for a period before the British

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and South ...

conquered it.

Notes

References

External links

* {{Authority control Educational organisations based in India Organisations based in Delhi Educational research Research institutes in Delhi Education policy in India Teacher education in India Training organizations in India Educational institutions established in 1961 1961 establishments in Delhi