State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) 
In pursuance of the recommendations of NPE, 1986 and its Programme of Action, the State Council of Educational Research & Training (SCERT), Delhi was established as an autonomous organization on May, 27, 1988 for providing academic resource support in improving the quality of school education in Delhi.
To achieve the aforesaid objective, through the tottering steps of infancy, we learnt the ropes of development of in-service/ pre-service course designs/syllabus, teacher training materials, conduct In-service Education of Teachers (INSET) Programmes/ETE Course and undertake research projects aimed at finding solutions to problems. The subsequent years saw us repeating the same processes with many variations and in varied hues, thus, enabling as to further refine our skills.
The work of State Council of Educational Research & Training and District Institution of Education and Training (DIET) covers the entire spectrum of school education.
The State Council of Educational Research and Training has focus on secondary education. The District Institution of Education and Trainings have adopted Lab Areas Approach to conduct studies, experiment new techniques, undertake action research and field testing to provide academic support at grass-root level in their respective districts in the area of Elementary Education. The inputs by State Council of Educational Research & Training and District Institution of Education and Trainings have resulted in professional growth of teachers, teacher educators, educational administrators and other educational functionaries leading to improvement in their effectiveness and efficiency.
The State Council of Educational Research & Training and District Institution of Education and Trainings have to quickly respond to the changes in content, methodology and evaluation to empower teachers and other educational functionaries to enable them to effectively address the problems of students. Along with the professional growth of the human component, the development of quality teaching-learning material and undertake research are some of the important tasks conductive for attaining the objectives of quality education and a responsive educational system. State Council of Educational Research & Training is striving hard to achieve this goal.
At present, nine District Institution of Education and Training are functioning under the overall guidance of State Council of Educational Research & Training. The District Institution of Education and Trainings have a mandate to conduct Pre-Service Teacher Education in the form of two year Diploma course in “Elementary Teacher Education (ETE)”. The Government District Institution of Education and Trainings also organize INSET Programme for Primary School Teachers and Headmasters.
Additionally, 21 Self Financed Recognized Private ETE Institutions affiliated to State Council of Educational Research & Training, Delhi are conducting ETE course. Also, 30 Self Financed Recognized Private Institutions affiliated to State Council of Educational Research & Training, Delhi are conducting two year Diploma Course in “Early Childhood Care & Education (ECCE)”. State Council of Educational Research & Training has responsibility of admission, examination and certification of these private recognised ETE and ECCE Institutions. Academic Resource Support to these is provided by State Council of Educational Research & Training in the form of development of curriculum. State Council of Educational Research & Training also has a mandate to ensure that these institutions function in accordance with the established Norms.
State Council of Educational Research & Training has made a serious attempt to institutionalize teachers in-service education as it is an essential component for their professional growth. Systematic efforts have been made to bring in clarity about the focus and perspective of in-service education and develop/ implement a model of training involving the following steps:-
- Conceptualization regarding general and specific objectives
- Development of course deigns
- Development of course materials
- Orientation of course Director and Resource persons
- Training
- Evaluation and follow-up
State Council of Educational Research & Training is also conducting an In-Service B.Ed Course with due recognition from NCTE and affiliation with GGSIPU, Delhi. The approved intake is of 100 students per year. This course is unique because the students are In-service Assistant Teachers from the education department of Government of National Capital Territory, Delhi who are due for promotion to TGT but cannot be promoted due to lack of B.Ed qualification. The students are paid their full salaries by their department during the session.
The development, publication and dissemination of Teaching-Learning Materials in the form of Textbooks, Manuals, Question-Banks, Handouts etc in print format and e-TLM is an essential component of State Council of Educational Research & Training’s effort to improve the quality of school education in Delhi.
The advent of Information and Communication Technology (ICTs) has resulted in the creation of “New Media”. State Council of Educational Research & Training, Delhi has kept itself abreast with the pace of change. We extensively use e-mails for communications with all the District Institution of Education and Trainings and ETE/ECCE private institutions for admission/examination related work. We also uploaded all our ETE/ECCE Admission lists for 2011-12 session on our Website to communicate with people and ensure transparency. With in 2011-12 we have also started online submission of admission forms for ETE and ECCE course admission. This resulted in saving a large amount of Govt. money. We have also been using Computer Aided Learning (CAL) materials for the past few years during INSET Programmes.
While most of technologies have a problem of interaction, during large scale INSET Programmes, we solved this by using CAL materials, LCD projectors and wireless mikes given to the Resource Person and the participants. State Council of Educational Research & Training, Delhi also has an EDUSAT Learning End of the NCERT network while the teaching end is at CIET, NCERT. We have been participating in Video Conferences using this equipment to provide training to teacher educators and pupil teachers. This equipment enables the participants in our classrooms to interact with the experts at the learning end, while all other similar classrooms across the country can watch our interaction. Similarly we can watch interactions of all the other classrooms in turn.
As the ICTs in varied forms becomes more affordable and enhance reach and interaction capabilities, we hope to further attain the target of quality and quantity in teacher education.
The State Council of Educational Research & Training Delhi, has a well stocked library, CAL Lab., Educational Technology Lab with the capacity of development of e-TLMs, Work Ex Lab , Science Lab.