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In the beginnings of the planned development, the Planning Commission of India
set up a Research Programmes Committee in 1953 to carry out research in social
sciences to promote national development. This Committee eventually established
the Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR) in 1969 to promote research
in social sciences. The ICSSR established 27 public-funded regional institutes to
carry out research in social sciences including education. This laid a strong founda-
tion for social science research including higher education research in India.
From the decade of 1990s, the role of NGOs, private trusts and foreign bodies in
funding social science and educational research increased in India. The external
funding favoured studies on poverty, employment, education and health. This period
also experienced a proliferation of research projects in education. The externally
funded education programmes such as the district primary education programme
(DPEP) provided sufficient funding and government support for policy-relevant
education research in India (Varghese 1996 ). A good share of these research proj-
ects were carried out by social science research institutions in India.
Institutional Arrangements for Education Research in India
India also developed institutional arrangements for research in education ever since
educational research in India began in the 1940s. The universities and research insti-
tutions played an important role in promoting research in education in India. As
noted earlier, an education department was opened in the University of Calcutta in
the early decades of the twentieth century. Bombay University started courses in
education in the 1930s and awarded the first research degree in education in 1943.
Over a period of time, several universities started offering study programmes in
education. At present 150 universities are offering nearly 1100 study programmes in
education (Table 17.1) in India.
The research institutions play an important role in facilitating educational
research. The establishment of Central Institute of Education (CIE) in 1947 was one
of the first efforts to provide an institutional basis for education research in India. In
the 1950s another six institutions were established to promote educational research
and programmes. These include Central Bureau of Textbook Research, Central
Bureau of Educational and Vocational Guidance, National Fundamental Education
Centre, National Institute of Basic Education and National Institute of Audio-Visual
Education.
In 1961 the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT)
was established as an autonomous premier research institution in education. The
NCERT gradually established State Councils of Educational Research and Training
(SCERT) and State Institutes of Education (SIE). Several other national institutions
such as National Institute of Education, Pune, and Centre of Advanced Studies in
Education (CASE), Baroda, were created to promote educational research. Most of
these institutions were actively engaged in research and training activities in
N.V. Varghese