Professor Hrushikesh Senapaty has joined as director of National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) on November 23, 2015. Prior to this, Senapaty was the principal of the Regional Institute of Education (RIE), Bhopal (a constituent unit of NCERT).
An alumnus of BJB College Bhubaneswar and Devi Ahilya Bai University, Indore, Senapaty joined RIE, Bhopal in 1997 as associate professor in education. Subsequently, he also worked with RIE, Bhubaneswar as professor and then came back to RIE, Bhopal as its principal in 2012.
Having more than 25 years of experience in teaching, training, research and extension activities, his areas of specialisation are teacher education and information and communications technology in education (ICTE).
The post of NCERT director has been vacant for over a year after Pravin Sinclair was unceremoniously ousted. On August 24, in a meeting of the search-cum-selection committee headed by Md Akhtar Siddiqui, the names of Senapaty and Anil Shukla were shortlisted.
The initial task before Senapaty will be to accelerate the process of consultation on the proposed New Education Policy (NEP). NCERT has been tasked to take forward few crucial components of the NEP. He will also have to take a stock of the review of textbooks as well as formulate the new curriculum framework. The last curriculum framework was devised in 2005.
