Union Minister for Education and Skill Development & Entrepreneurship Shri Dharmendra Pradhan attended the 63rd Foundation Day Celebration of NCERT today in New Delhi. The Minister also inaugurated a new Information and Communication Technology (ICT) laboratory of the CIET on the occasion. Secretary, Department of School Education & Literacy, Ministry of Education, Shri Sanjay Kumar; Director, NCERT, Prof. Dinesh Prasad Saklani; Chancellor, NIEPA, Shri Mahesh Chandra Pant, and senior officials of the Ministry of Education, NCERT, Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan, Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti and CBSE were also present.

Speaking on the occasion, Shri Pradhan informed that NCERT has been given the status of a Deemed-to-be-University. NCERT has established a formidable presence in research, actively shaped school education, teacher training, and adult literacy. NCERT on becoming a research university will offer opportunities for global collaborations and contributions to the global educational landscape, he added.

The Minister further said that Jadui Pitara- -a play-based learning-teaching material tailored for children between the age group of 3-8 years developed by NCERT will come up as a instrument of change that will benefit 10 crore children of the country, he stressed.

Shri Pradhan also emphasized developing content in mother tongue. He suggested setting up Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality and Artificial Intelligence labs in all 7 regional centres of NCERT. To make India the global hub of research and innovation these centres should be equipped with the latest technologies from around the world with future-ready infrastructure, he added. He also urged NCERT to standardize the Teachers’ training curriculum to NCERT in its ECCE.

Shri Pradhan also mentioned that children of the country should be ready for the Industrial Revolution 4.0. He suggested developing small booklets on varied subjects that will provide the facts on the subjects like India’s COVID-19 management, Chandrayaan 3, etc. The new generations must be taught of the latest developments as well as Indian values and ethos, he emphasized.

Shri Sanjay Kumar praised the efforts made by NCERT in developing learning materials in line with the suggestions of NEP2020. He stressed on the importance of bringing all the streams like art, science, vocational studies etc. into one platform to provide holistic learning to the children. He also informed NCERT will be developing educational material in all 22 languages with the help of software like Anuvadini.

During the event, the students of the Regional Institute of Education, Bhopal, also presented a skit on Jadui Pitara along with song performed in 22 languages. A short film was showcased during the function that highlighted several significant initiatives and achievements of NCERT.

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SS/AK