Dinesh Prasad Saklani (Photo: Facebook@Dinesh Saklani) Dinesh Prasad Saklani, a professor of history at the HNB Garhwal University, was appointed as the director of the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) for five years on Friday. He succeeds Hrushikesh Senapaty, who finished his term over a year ago.
NCERT is an autonomous institution under the Ministry of Education (MoE) that is tasked with advising the Union government on school curriculum and drafting school textbooks. NCERT textbooks are taught in all schools affiliated to CBSE and also adopted by over 20 states.
As the Council’s new head, Saklani will oversee the drafting of the new National Curriculum Framework (NCF) that will lay down the broad guidelines for changes in the curriculum. The last NCF was prepared in 2005 under the UPA government, and before that, it was revised in 1975, 1988 and 2000. The framework, for school education, early childhood care and education, teacher education and adult education, will be revised based on the recommendations made by a Centre-appointed 12-member National Steering Committee headed by former ISRO chairman K Kasturirangan.
Saklani is currently a professor in the department of ancient India history, culture and archaeology and has authored three books, including one on the ancient communities of the central Himalaya region and one titled ‘Ramayana Tradition in Historical Perspective’. He has also published several papers on Ramayana tradition in performing arts and in the Garhwal region. Saklani hasn’t headed any academic institution in the past. His stint as the NCERT director will be his first in a leadership role.
The search-cum-selection committee has interviewed several contenders, including many from within NCERT, for this position. Prof Sridhar Srivastava, the acting NCERT director who had been holding the position after Senapaty’s retirement, NCERT’s Department of Education in Social Sciences Dr Gouri Srivastava, and the principal of the Bhubaneswar Regional Institute of Education (RIE), Prof PC Agarwal, were among those who were called for the interview.
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