NCERT

The National Council of Educational Research and Training was established in New
Delhi, on 1st September, 1961 for providing academic support in improving the quality of
school education in India. It is the academic adviser to Ministry of Human Resources
development (HRD) of the government of India. The ministry draws upon NCERTs expertise
while formulating and implementing policies and programs in the areas of school and
teacher education. Funded by the government of India, this autonomous organization is
registered under the Societies Registration Act (1860).
STRUCTURE
The General Body is the policy making body of the NCERT with the Union Minister for
Human Resource Development as its President. All the ministers of education in the State
and Union Territories are its members. Beside experts in the field of education are also
nominated as members. Its membership patters helps in taking policy decision at the
highest level.
ROLE OF NCERT

To monitor the administration of NIE / Regional colleges of Education.

To undertake aid, promote and co-ordinate research in all branches of education for
improving school education

To organize pre-service and in-service education programmes for teachers.

To prepare and publish study material for students and related teachers handbooks. /

To search talented students for the award of scholarship in science, Technology and social
sciences.

To undertake functions assigned by the Ministry of education (Now HRD) for improving
school education.

To promote, organize and foster research in all fields of education.

To disseminate knowledge of improved educational techniques and practices; and

To conduct special studies, surveys and investigations.

It is quite interesting tCONSTITUENT UNITS:
The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) with six
constituents has been serving
NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION:
1) National Institute of Education (NIE), located in Delhi. Diploma courses in Guidance and
Counselling, Early Childhood Care and Educational and a certificate course in Peace
Education are among the major training courses offered currently by NIE departments. The
NIE contributes to established areas of school education such as elementary education,
science and mathematics, social science and humanities, language and art, education of
children with special needs and computer education.National talent search is also
responsibility of NIE
The NIEs activities are mainly confined to (a) research and development (b) in
service training and (c) publishing and dissemination programmes. Important among these
programmes are developed and evaluation of curriculum, instructional materials, learning

resources and instructional strategies. These programmes cover the entire range or
preprimary to higher secondary stage of education and all school subjects including the
vocational
stream
at
the
higher
secondary
stage. Its
other
programmes
include examination reform and test development, nutrition and health education,
education of scheduled caste and scheduled tribe students, girls, education, population
education, value education and physical education. The NIE also develops prototypes of
science kits which are in fact mini-laboratories for schools. Other important areas of its
works are the non-formal education for out-school children, early childhood education,
education of the disabled and programmes for the educationally backward minorities. The
NIE has computer facilities for storage and retrieval of data. It periodically conducts
educational surveys which throw light on the educational facilities and needs. The NIE has
also a library and documentation unit specializing in education.
The special reference library for the use of researches I then filed of applied
psychology called the National Library of Educational and Physiological Tests is also located
in the NIE.
Considering the importance of improving the quality of teacher education in India,
the government had established the National Council for teacher Education (NCTE) and
functioning as its academic secretarial is the Department of Teacher Education, Special
Education and Extension Service (DTESEES). Tough the NIE primarily confines its activities
to in-service training; it nevertheless conducts a regular nine month Diploma Course in
Educational and Vocational Guidance. This is basically a pre-service course meant for
training a band of counselors for the school system.
CENTRAL INSTITUTE OF EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY (CIET)
The CIET is the sixth constituent unit of the NCERT. It was set up in 1984s by
merging the Centre for Educational Technology and Department of Teaching Aids. It aims at
promoting the use of educational technology, particularly mass media, for improving and
spreading education in the country, and for developing an alternate system of education.
The CIET develops (a) software in mind the educational needs, (b) trains personnel
wording in the field of educational technology, (c) conducts and disseminates information
concerning educational media and technology.
The CIET is headed by a Joint Director, appointed by the Government of India. It has
helped in setting up six States institutes of educational Technology (SIETs), one each in
Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Orissa and Uttar Pradesh. The SIET and the
CIET produce educational television programmes for children in the age group 5-8 and 9-11
years and teachers. These proigrammes are telecast for three hours and forty minutes a
day by using the satellite and ground transmission network.
The CIET is equipped to take up programmes covering most of the areas of
educational technology, viz, distance education, educational television, radio, films and low
cost material. We shall discuss a bit detail about CIET separately because of its importance.
REGIONAL INSTITUTES OF EDUCATION (RIES)
The Council has four Regional Colleges of Education (RIEs) one each at Ajmer,
Bhopal, Bhubaneswar and Mysore. These campus colleges with the Demonstration
Multipurpose Schools attached to them. Such schools help the faculty to develop
methodologies and test them in the actual classroom situation. Each college has modern
laboratories, well-equipped library and residential quarters.
The college offered for integrated teacher education courses leading to B.Sc, Ed.
Degree. Except RCE Ajmer the other college also offered a similar programme leading to
B.A., B.Ed programmes.
The Bhubaneswar and Mysore RCEs also offered M.Sc Education programmes.

Facilities for doing doctoral work for the pursuing one year B.Ed and M.Ed courses
were also available in the RCEs.
All the RCEs conduct in-service training programs both for school teachers and
teacher educations. Besides teaching and extension work, the colleges also take up
research and development programmes. Now they are converted in Regional Institutes of
Education.
CO-OPERATIVE EFFORT
The States play a pivotal role in the area of school education in India. The NCERT
works in close co-operation with the state education departments. It has a network of 17
filed Advisers (FAS) offices covering at state and union territories. The council associates the
representatives of states with its programmes and with the comities constituted by it.
The NCERT has close ties with universities and other organizations that have a stake
in the quality of school education. Prominent among them are the Kendriya Vidyalays
Sangathan (KVS), the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), the Central Tibetan
Schools Administration (CTSA), and the Navodaya Vidyalays Samiti (NVS).
FUNCTIONS
The functions of the NCERT broadly relate to
(a) Research and development
(b) In service and pre-service training
(c) Extension and dissemination work all these lauded to achieve the main objective of
improving the quality of education.
The NCERT, therefore (i) develop curriculum, instructional and exemplar materials,
methods of teaching, techniques of evaluation, teaching aids, kits equipments, learning
resources etc. (ii) Organize pre-service and in-service training of teachers, teacher
educators and other educational personnel; (iii) conducts and promotes educational
research; (iv) disseminates improved educational techniques and practices and research
findings, and (v) acts as a cleaning house for ideas and information on all matters relating to
school education and teacher education.
Realizing the importance of textbooks, the government, after independence,
increasingly acquired more control over preparation, production and distribution of
textbooks in addition to the concern for production of quality textbooks in large quantity,
one of the significant argument for adoption of the policy of nationalization was the state
produced textbooks would check anti-democratic and would help meeting the challenges of
casteism, communalism, regionalism, linguism, religious intolerance, untouchability and
some other national and global conce
NCERT consist of following constituent units:
2) The Central Institute of Educational Technology (CIET), Delhi
Audio, video and multimedia programmes for children are developed at CIET.
3) Pandit Sunderlal Sharma Central Institute of Vocational Education, Bhopal
Organizes research,development, training and training and extension programmes in the
area of work education and vocational education.
4) Regional Institute of Education (RIE), Ajmer
5) Regional Institute of Education (RIE), Bhopal
6) Regional Institute of Education (RIE), Bhubaneswar
7) Regional Institute of Education (RIE), Shillong
8)Regional Institute of Education (RIE), Mysore