India, April 4 -- In yet another reform towards higher education, the Union Ministry of Education has declared the National Council for Educational Research and Training (NCERT) as a deemed-to-be university, empowering it to award its own degrees.

An official notification in this regard said the Ministry of Education, on the advice of the University Grants Commission (UGC), NCERT, along with its six constituent units have been declared a deemed University under a distinct category.

These constituent units include regional institutes of education in Ajmer, Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Mysuru and Shillong, along with the Pandit Sunderlal Sharma Central Institute of Vocational Education in Bhopal.NCERT undertakes various activities and programmes,...