The HRD ministry is considering a demand of the National Council for Educational Research and Training (NCERT) for granting it 'Institute of National Importance' status so that it can confer degrees and start a range of courses on teaching.
Speaking at the the 56th Foundation Day of the organization, where Minister of State for HRD Upendra Kushwaha was present, NCERT Director Hrushikesh Senapaty said that "its regional institute were affiliated to different state universities which created difficulties."
Citing an instance, he said "one of the regional institutes under NCERT could not introduce semester system because it was not in line with the norms of the University it was affiliated to."
He further said "NCERT has recently sent a proposal to the HRD ministry seeking granting of Institution of National Importance status so that it can confer degrees and start a range of innovative courses."
Premiere institutes like IITs and IISc etc have been granted 'Institute of National Importance' status by Acts of Parliament which allows them to confer degrees. The NCERT chief also sought that there should be one Regional Institute of Education in every state to meet the needs of quality in teachers' training.
Later, Senapaty told reporters that "NCERT can run a variety of specialized programs ranging from education technology to textbook and curriculum designing to teaching special children but finds it difficult under the present framework.
"All our institutes are affiliated to state universities and have to run programs only as per their guidelines. Therefore often we are not in a position to run innovative programs," he said.
Senapaty said that a committee headed by Govardhan Mehta had recommended 'Institute of National Importance status' for NCERT and after approval of the Executive Council, a proposal was submitted to the HRD ministry a couple of months back.
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