Dikhyaa Mohanty 
Dharmendra Pradhan, the Union Minister for Education, Skill Development, and Entrepreneurship, attended the 63rd NCERT Foundation Day Celebration in New Delhi. On this occasion, the Minister also opened a new Information and Communication Technology (ICT) laboratory of the CIET.
Senior representatives of the Ministry of Education, NCERT, Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan, Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti, and CBSE were also present, along with Sanjay Kumar, Secretary, Department of School Education & Literacy, Ministry of Education; Prof. Dinesh Prasad Saklani, Director, NCERT; Mahesh Chandra Pant, Chancellor, NIEPA.
Pradhan said that NCERT has been accorded the status of a Deemed-to-be-University while speaking at the event. The NCERT has made a significant impact on research and actively influenced adult literacy, teacher preparation, and school education. He stated that NCERT’s decision to become a research university will present prospects for international partnerships and contributions to the field of education.
The Minister emphasized that Jadui Pitara, a play-based learning and teaching resource created by NCERT for children between the ages of 3 and 8 years, will emerge as a tool for change that will help the nation’s 10 crore youngsters. Pradhan placed a strong emphasis on creating information in native tongues. He proposed establishing laboratories for augmented reality, virtual reality, and artificial intelligence in each of NCERT’s seven regional centres.
These facilities must be outfitted with the newest technology available from around the globe and future-proof infrastructure, he continued, if India is to become the world’s centre of research and innovation. Additionally, he pushed NCERT to adopt its ECCE as the norm for the Teachers’ Training Curriculum.
Pradhan said that the nation’s youth must be prepared for the Industrial Revolution 4.0. He recommended creating short books on a variety of topics that would offer information on topics like Chandrayaan 3, the management of COVID-19 by India, etc. He underlined that it is important to teach the younger generations both the most recent advancements and Indian values and culture.
