India, April 3 -- The National Council of Educational Research and Training, NCERT, has been granted deemed-to-be university status. With this status, the Council will be able to award its own degrees and expand its academic scope.

The decision was approved by the Ministry of Education, on the advice of the University Grants Commission, UGC.

This decision brings NCERT and its six constituent institutions, including the Regional Institutes of Education located in Ajmer, Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Mysuru and Shillong, as well as the Pandit Sunderlal Sharma Central Institute of Vocational Education in Bhopal, under the new status.

In the statement, the Ministry has informed that an online application was uploaded on the UGC Portal for the grant...