Overview
- The Ministry of Education issued a notification dated March 30, 2026, formally declaring NCERT an Institution Deemed to be University after a University Grants Commission expert committee recommended the change.
- The declaration is conditional and requires NCERT to take appropriate steps to commence research programmes as well as doctoral and innovative academic courses before those programmes begin.
- The new status will allow NCERT to design and award its own degrees, which the ministry says will strengthen its capacity for educational research, innovation and collaboration with national and international agencies.
- Some NCERT faculty have long warned that shifting to deemed-university status could reduce the council’s academic autonomy by placing it under greater UGC regulation, a concern raised publicly in earlier reports.
- Beyond degree powers, the change could shift where India houses school-education research and doctoral training and may alter how NCERT provides technical support to central and state governments as it builds new research programmes.