Unit: IV -Educational Agencies

The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT)

NCERT is an apex resource organization set up by the Government of India, with headquarters at New Delhi, to assist and advise the Central and State Governments on academic matters related to school education. The NCERT provides academic and technical support for improvement of school education through its constituents which are as follows:

Ø National Institute of Education (NIE) , New Delhi
Ø Central Institute of Educational Technology (CIET)
Ø Pandit Sunderlal Sharma Central Institute of Vocational Education
Ø Regional Institutes of Education (RIEs), at Ajmer, Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Mysore and Shillong

Different Departments at National Institute of Education, New Delhi

The National Institute of Education (NIE) in New Delhi carries out research and development activities related to pedagogical aspects of curriculum; prepares prototype curricular and supplementary materials; develops school education-related database and undertakes experiments in pre-school, elementary, secondary and higher secondary stages to support all-round development of the learner. NIE also organizes in -service training of key resource persons and teacher educators associated with implementation of centrally sponsored school improvement schemes.

Department of
Elementary education

Women's Studies [DWS]

Teacher Education and Extensions [DTEE]

Educational Measurement and Evaluation [DEME]

Educational Research and Policy Perspective [DERPP]
Computer Education and Technological Aids [DCETA]
Languages
Education in Arts and Aesthetics ( DEAA )
Curriculum Group (CG)

The CIET is concerned with development of educational technology, especially mass communication media. Activities of CIET also include design and production of media software viz., radio and television programmes.

Scope of NCERT
The NCERT undertakes the Following programmes and activities are included under the scope of NCERT.

Research
Being an apex national body for research in school education, the NCERT performs the important functions of conducting and supporting research and offering training in educational research methodology. Besides conducting in-house research, the NCERT supports research programmes of other institutions/organizations by providing financial assistance and academic guidance. Assistance is given to scholars for publication of their Ph.D. theses. Research fellowships are offered to encourage studies in school education to create a research base for developmental, training and extension programmes and to create a pool of competent research workers. It also organises courses for educational research workers. The NCERT also organises educational research in the country. It has computer facilities for storing, processing and retrieval of data. It collaborates with international agencies in inter-country research, projects.

Development

The major developmental activities include development and renewal of curricula and instructional materials for various levels of school education and making them relevant to changing needs of children and society. The innovative developmental activities include development of curricula and instructional materials in school education in the area of pre-school education, formal and non-formal education, vocationalisation of education and teacher education.

Training

NCERT also provides pre-service and in-service training of teachers at various levels; pre-primary, elementary, secondary and higher secondary, and also in such areas as vocational education, educational technology, guidance and counseling, and special education. The pre-service teacher education programmes are offered at the Regional Institutes of Education (RIEs).The RIEs also undertake the training of key personnel of the states and of state level institutions and training of teacher educators and in-service teachers.

Extension

NCERT works in close collaboration with various agencies and institutions in the states and also works extensively with Extension Service Departments and Centers in teacher training colleges and schools with the purpose of providing assistance to various categories of personnel, including teachers, teacher educators, educational administrators, question-paper setters, textbook writers, etc. Conferences, seminars, workshops and competitions are organized as regular on-going programmes as a part of the extension activities.

Publication and Dissemination
The NCERT publishes textbooks for different school subjects for Classes I to XII. The textbooks are published in English, Hindi and Urdu.
It also brings out workbooks, teachers guides, supplementary readers, research reports, etc. In addition, it publishes instructional materials for the use of teacher educators, teacher trainees and in-service teachers.

The NCERT publishes six journals: The Primary Teacher is published both in English and Hindi and aims at giving meaningful and relevant educational inputs to primary school teachers for direct use in the classroom; School Science serves as an open forum for discussion on various aspects of science education; Journal of Indian Education provides a forum for encouraging original and critical thinking in education through discussion on current educational issues; Indian Educational Review contains research articles and provides a forum for researchers in education; and BharatiyaAdhunik Shiksha, published in Hindi, provides a forum for encouraging critical thinking in education on contemporary issues and for dissemination of educational problems and practices. Besides these, a house journal called NCERT Newsletter is also published in English and Hindi. The title of the Hindi version of the newsletter is Shaikshik Darpan.

Exchange Programmes
The NCERT interacts with international organizations such as UNESCO, UNICEF, UNDP, NFPA and the World Bank to study specific educational problems and to arrange training programmes for personnel from developing countries.