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Teacher Education

Notes 9.3 Programmes and Activities of NCERT

The NCERT undertakes the following programmes and activities: 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. The different
Departments of the National Institute of Education (NIE), Regional Institutes of Education (RIEs),
Central Institute of Educational Technology (CIET) and Pandit Sunderlal Sharma Central Institute
of Vocational Education (PSSCIVE) undertake programmes of research related to different aspects
of school education, including teacher education. 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 organizes courses for educational research workers. The NCERT also organizes
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: Developmental activities in school education constitute an important function of the
NCERT. 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. Developmental
activities are also undertaken in the domains of educational technology, population education, and
education of the disabled and other special groups.
Training: Another important dimension of NCERT's activities is the 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 at the Regional Institutes of
Education (RIEs) incorporate innovative features such as integration of content and methodology of
teaching, long-term internship of teacher trainees in the actual classroom setting, and participation
of students in community work. 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: The NCERT has comprehensive extension programmes in which various Departments
of the NIE, RIEs, CIET, PSSCIVE and the offices of the Field Advisers in the states are engaged in
various ways. It 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. Several programmes are organized in rural and
backward areas in order to reach out to the functionaries in these areas where special problems exist
and where special efforts are needed. Special programmes are organized for the education of the
disadvantaged sections of the society. The extension programmes cover all States and Union
Territories of the country.
Publication and Dissemination: The NCERT publishes textbooks for different school subjects for
Classes I to XII. 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. These instructional materials, produced through research and
developmental work, serve as models to various agencies in States and Union Territories. These are
made available to state level agencies for adoption and/or adaptation. The textbooks are published
in English, Hindi and Urdu. For dissemination of educational information, or 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;

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