National Council for Teacher Education (Recognition Norms and Procedure) Amendment Regulations, 2022

NOTIFICATION

New Delhi, the 4th May, 2022

F. No NCTE-Regl012/13/2021- Reg. Sec.-HQ.—In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (1) of section 32 of the National Council for Teacher Education Act, 1993 (73 of 1993), the National Council for Teacher Education hereby makes the following amendments further to amend the National Council for Teacher Education (Recognition Norms and Procedure) Regulations, 2014, namely:—

1. Short title and commencement.—(1)These regulations may be called the National Council for Teacher Education (Recognition Norms and Procedure) Amendment Regulations, 2022.

(2) They shall come into force on the date of their publication in the Official Gazette.

2. In the National Council for Teacher Education (Recognition Norms and Procedure) Regulations, 2014, (hereinafter referred to as the said regulations), in regulation 2, for clause (b), the following clause shall be substituted, namely:-

“(b) composite institutions” means a duly recognised higher education institution offering undergraduate or postgraduate programmes of study in the field of liberal arts or humanities or social sciences or sciences or commerce, as the case may be, at the time of applying for recognition of teacher education programmes;”

3. In the Principal regulations, in regulation 3,-

(i) for clause (a), the following clause shall be substituted, namely:-

“(a) recognition for commencement of new teacher education programmes which shall be offered in multi-

disciplinary institutions;”

(ii) after clause (e), the following clause shall be inserted, namely:-

“(f) standalone Government colleges conducting Bachelor of Education, desirous of offering Integrated Teacher Education Programme must do so in collaboration with nearby multidisciplinary Government Higher Education Institutions, which are affiliated to the same university.”

4. In the Principal regulations, in regulation 5,-

(i) sub-regulation (2) shall be omitted;

(ii) for sub-regulation (3), the following sub-regulation shall be substituted, namely:-

“(3) The application shall be submitted online electronically on National Council for Teacher Education portal alongwith the processing fee, as applicable, and scanned copies of required documents including no objection certificate issued by the concerned affiliating body, original registered land document and the document indicating that the society or institution applying for the programme possesses land on the date of application issued by competent authority”.

(iii) sub-regulation (4) shall be omitted;

(iv) for sub-regulation (5), the following sub-regulation shall be substituted, namely:-

“(5) Duly completed online application in all respects should be submitted to the Regional Committee concerned between first day of March to thirty first day of May of the preceding year from the academic session for which recognition is sought:

Provided that the aforesaid period shall not be applicable for submission of application to innovative programmes of teacher education or pilots undertaken by the National Council for Teacher Education”.

5. In the Principal regulations, for regulation 6, the following regulation shall be substituted, namely:-

“6. Processing fees.-The processing fee as prescribed under rule 9 of the National Council for Teacher Education Rules, 1997, shall be paid by the applicant, as applicable, online through the designated banks for processing the application for grant of recognition to an institution to conduct a teacher education programme or addition to programme or intake in the existing programme.”

6. In the Principal regulations, in regulation 7,-

(i) for sub-regulation (2), the following sub-regulation shall be substituted, namely:-

“(2) The application shall be summarily rejected on failure to deposit the application fee, as applicable, as prescribed under rule 9 of the National Council for Teacher Education Rules, 1997 on or before the first date of submission of online application.”

(ii) for sub-regulation (4), the following sub-regulation shall be substituted, namely:-

“(4) A communication through online or email shall be sent by the office of Regional Committee to the State Government or the Union territory administration concerned within seven days from the receipt of application, in chronological order of uploading the online application on the National Council for Teacher Education portal to furnish its recommendations or comments.”

(iii) for sub-regulation (5), the following sub-regulation shall be substituted, namely:-

“(5) On receipt of the communication, the State Government or the Union territory administration concerned shall furnish its recommendations or comments to the Regional Committee concerned within fifteen days from the date of issue of the letter, as the case may be. In case, the State Government or Union territory administration is not in favour of recognition, it shall provide detailed reasons or grounds thereof with necessary statistics, which shall be taken into consideration by the Regional Committee while disposing of the application.”

(iv) for sub-regulation (6), the following sub-regulation shall be substituted, namely:-

“(6) If the recommendations or comments are not received within the prescribed period, the Regional Committee shall send a reminder providing further time of seven days to furnish their recommendations or comments. In case no reply is received within prescribed period the Regional Committee shall process and decide the case on merits. Processing of the application by the Regional Committee shall not be deferred on account of non-receipt of recommendations or comments.”

(v) for sub-regulation (7), the following sub-regulation shall be substituted, namely:-

“(7) After consideration of the  recommendations or  comments, or  suo-moto as prescribed under sub- regulation (6) of regulation 7, the Regional Committee concerned shall decide that institution shall be inspected through virtual mode by a team of experts called visiting team as per visiting team policy approved by the Chairperson, National Council for Teacher Education with a view to assess the level of preparedness of the institution to commence the course. In case of open and distance learning programmes, sampled study centres shall be inspected. Inspection shall not be subject to the consent of the institution, rather the decision of the Regional Committee to cause the inspection shall be communicated to the institution with the direction that the inspection shall be caused immediately on completion of forty eight hours  from the time of communication by the Regional Office. The institution shall be required to present the requisite documents as prescribed in the standard operating procedure approved by the Chairperson, National Council for Teacher Education, to the Inspection Team at the time of virtual inspection:

Provided that the Regional Committee shall organise such inspections strictly in chronological order of the receipt of application for the cases to be approved by it:

Provided further that the members of the visiting team for inspection shall be randomly selected online out of panel of experts approved by the Chairperson, National Council for Teacher Education and in accordance with the visiting team policy of the National Council for Teacher Education.”

(vi) for sub-regulation (8), the following sub-regulation shall be substituted, namely:-

“(8) At the time of virtual inspection by the team of experts to an institution, the institution concerned shall arrange for inspection in a manner that all important infrastructural and instructional facilities are presented properly online. The inspection teams shall finalise and submit their reports on the same day:

Provided that the virtual inspection should clearly establish the outer view of the building, its surroundings, access road and important infrastructure including classrooms, labs, resource rooms, multipurpose hall, library and others. The virtual inspection shall be done in a continuous manner:

Provided further that at the time of virtual inspection for new courses or increase in intake of the existing course, the visiting team shall verify the facilities for existing recognised teacher education courses and ascertain the fulfilment and maintenance of regulations and norms and standards for the existing courses as well.”

(vii) for sub-regulation (9), the following sub-regulation shall be substituted, namely:-

“(9) The application and the report along with the video recordings of the virtual inspection team shall be considered by the Regional Committee concerned for appropriate decision within seven days of submission of the report.”

(viii) for sub-regulation (17), the following sub-regulation shall be substituted, namely:-

“(17) If Regional Committee, after consideration of the report of the visiting team and other facts on record, is of the opinion that the institution does not fulfil the requirements for starting or conducting the course or for increase in intake, it shall provide a reasonable opportunity for making an online representation, as per standard operating procedure approved by the Chairperson, National Council for Teacher Education before passing an order refusing recognition under section 14 (3) (b) or section 15 (3) (b) of the National Council for Teacher Education Act, 1993.

Any person aggrieved by an order made under section 14 or section 15 may prefer an online appeal to the Council under section 18 of the National Council for Teacher Education Act, 1993 as prescribed”.

(ix) for sub-regulation (18), the following sub-regulation shall be substituted, namely:-

“(18) The reports of inspection of the institutions along with the names of the visiting team experts shall be made available on the official website of the Regional Committee after the same have been considered and by limiting the access to the institution concerned.”

7. In the Principal regulations, in regulations 8,-

(i) for sub-regulation (1), the following sub-regulation shall be substituted, namely:-

“(1) The Institutions shall offer Integrated Teacher Education programmes in multi-disciplinary environment.”

(ii) for sub-regulation (5), the following sub-regulation shall be substituted, namely:-

“(5) The institution or society shall upload an affidavit on Rupees one hundred stamp paper duly attested, by the Oath Commissioner or Notary Public stating the precise location of the land including khasra number, village, district, state, the total area in possession and the permission of the competent authority to use the land for educational purposes and mode of possession. In case of Government institutions, the affidavit shall be furnished by the authorised signatory. The affidavit shall be accompanied with the certified copy of land ownership or lease documents with the registering authority and the permission of the competent authority to use the land for educational purposes including approved building plan as per provision contained in sub- regulation (4) of regulation 5.”

(iii) for sub-regulation (7), the following sub-regulation shall be substituted, namely:-

“(7) At the time of inspection, the building of the institution shall be complete in the form of a permanent structure on the land possessed by the institution, equipped with all necessary amenities and fulfilling all such requirements as prescribed. The institution shall present the original completion certificate issued by the competent authority, approved building plan in proof of the completion of building and built up area and other documents to the visiting team at the time of virtual inspection. Temporary structures shall not be allowed in the institution, even if it is in addition to the prescribed built up area.”

(iv) for sub-regulation (9), the following sub-regulation shall be substituted, namely:-

“(9) In case of change of premises, prior approval of the Regional Committee concerned shall be necessary, which may be accorded after due inspection of the institution at the new site. Application for change of premises, in the specified format alongwith the processing fee and other relevant documents shall be uploaded by the institution online to the Regional Office for prior approval of change of premises. The change may be permitted to a site which, if applied initially, would have qualified for establishment of an institution as per specified norms of the Council. The change shall be displayed on the website thereafter”.

(v) for sub-regulation (12), the following sub-regulation shall be substituted, namely:-

“(12) The institution shall make the information and documents available online to the Council or its authorised representatives as and when required by them and failure to produce or show any of the required documents, shall be treated as a breach of the conditions of the recognition.”

Note: The Principal regulations were published in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary, Part III, Section 4, dated the 1st December, 2014, vide notification number F.51-1/2014/NCTE (N&S), dated the 28th November, 2014 and were last amended vide notification number  F.NCTE-Regl011/80/2018-MS  (Regulation)-HQ,  dated  the 26th October, 2021.