Availability of NCERT Textbooks

CBSE reiterating its circular dated July 20, 2015 has clarified that prescribing too many books and coercing parents and children to buy them is unhealthy practice that is educationally unsound. Especially since NCERT textual materials are the base for preparing test items in the Board Examinations and the Question Paper of CBSE is set according to prescribed syllabus of the subject.

All the schools affiliated to CBSE follow syllabi prescribed by the NCERT. NCERT is running its own sales counters at Bhopal, Shillong, Ajmer, Mysore, Bhubaneshwar, Bengaluru, Ahmedabad, Kolkata, Guwahati and New Delhi for catering to the needs of individuals and schools. Any school affiliated to CBSE can procure their requirement of NCERT textbooks in bulk from any of these centers.

NCERT has given copyright to eight states and the states have to print books to meet their demand. The NCERT books from classes I to XII are available free of cost at epathshala.nic.in and the publications by CBSE are available free of cost at e-CBSE Portal at www.cbse.nic.in, students and parents can avail this facility.

It is, therefore reiterated that parents of CBSE affiliated schools should not be coerced to buy additional textbooks by the school authorities.

GG/RT/DS/NCERT-TextBooks.

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Initiatives of the UGC

1. UGC (Minimum Standards and Procedure for Award of M.Phil / Ph.D. Degrees) Regulations

(i) Women Candidates and Persons with Disability (more than 40% disability) may be allowed a relaxation of one year for M.Phil and two years for Ph.D. In addition, women candidates may be provided Maternity Leave/Child Care Leave once in the entire duration of M.Phil/Ph.D. for up to 240 days.

(ii) In case of relocation of an M.Phil/Ph.D. woman scholar due to marriage or otherwise, research data shall be allowed to be transferred to the University to which the scholar intends to relocate provided a) all other conditions in these regulations are followed and b) the research work does not pertain to a project secured by the parent institution/ supervisor from any funding agency. The scholar will give credit to the parent guide and institution for the part of research already done.

(iii) Award of degrees to candidates registered for the M.Phil/Ph.D. programme prior to July 11, 2009 shall be governed by the provisions of the then existing Ordinances / Bylaws / Regulations of the Institution awarding the degrees and they shall be exempted from the requirement of the minimum eligibility condition of National Eligibility Test/State Level Eligibility Test/State Eligibility Test for recruitment and appointment of Assistant Professor or equivalent positions in Universities/Colleges/ Institutions subject to the fulfillment of the following conditions:

(a) Ph.D. degree of the candidate awarded in regular mode only;

(b) Evaluation of the Ph.D. thesis by at least two external examiners;

(d) Candidate has two research publications from his/her Ph.D. work out of which at least one must be in a refereed journal;

(e) Candidate has made at least two presentations in conferences/seminars, based on his/her Ph.D. work;

(a) to (e) are to be certified by the Vice-Chancellor/ Pro-Vice-Chancellor/ Dean (Academic Affairs)/Dean (University Instructions)”

2. Grant of autonomous status to colleges accredited by National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) without on-the-spot inspection by the Expert Committee

A College which is accredited with the highest grades in two consecutive cycles and also secures the highest accreditation grade in the third cycle from NAAC will be granted autonomous status provided it obtains No Objection Certificate from the affiliating University and provided it also adheres to University Grants Commission Regulations like (a) Curbing the Menace of Ragging in Higher Education Institutions Regulations, 2012; (b) UGC (Promotion of Equity in Higher Educational Institutions) Regulation 2012; (c) UGC (Grievance Redressal) Regulations 2012, etc. These institutions will enjoy the autonomy and the freedom to design curricula, prescribe syllabi, assess student performance, and declare results. They will have their own Board of Studies/ Academic Council which will oversee the academic functioning of the institution.

3. Extension of the validity of the accreditation period in the third cycle by National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC)

If an institution is accredited with the highest grade consecutively in two cycles by NAAC and also secures the highest grade in 3^rd cycle, the validity of accreditation period will be 7 years instead of 5 years and the validity will remain to be 7 years for each cycle if the institution gets a highest grade in subsequent cycles.

4. Widening the scope of Granting 12-B status to Colleges under University Grants Commission (Fitness of Colleges for Receiving Grants), Rules, 2016

A College affiliated to a University continuously without any break for a period of 10 years and is accredited by NAAC may be granted 12B status under the “UGC (Fitness of Colleges to Receive Grants) Rules” provided it adheres to UGC Regulations like (a) Curbing the Menace of Ragging in Higher Education Institutions Regulations, 2012; (b) UGC (Promotion of Equity in Higher Educational Institutions) Regulation 2012; (c) UGC (Grievance Redressal) Regulations 2012, etc., in letter & spirit. The grant of 12B status is recognition of the quality of the institution and making them eligible for accessing grants from different agencies of the Government of India.

GG/RT/UGC Initiatives