Delhi: The National Council of Educational Research and Training assumed responsibility for determining certificate equivalence across Indian education boards after the government transferred this authority from the Association of Indian Universities through a September 6, 2025, notification.
The Department of School Education and Literacy published the directive in the e-Gazette, granting NCERT authority to evaluate Secondary and Senior Secondary certificates from various School Education Boards nationwide. Consequently, this responsibility covers admissions to higher education institutions and employment opportunities under the Central Government, State Governments and Union Territories.
The notification replaced an earlier directive dated November 15, 2021, which had assigned this responsibility to the Association of Indian Universities. Meanwhile, NCERT will execute these duties through its National Assessment Centre, Performance Assessment, Review and Analysis of Knowledge for Holistic Development.
NCERT certificate equivalence system ensures academic rigour
PARAKH, established under the National Education Policy 2020, will oversee the equivalence determination process through academically rigorous standards. Furthermore, this institutional mechanism ensures that evaluation maintains the highest educational benchmarks across all participating boards.
The new system covers Central Government, State Government and private Indian School Boards established through Acts of Parliament or State legislature. Additionally, it includes boards created by executive orders of Central or State Governments, and those established by statutory bodies and recognised institutions with appropriate mandates.
NCERT’s equivalence determinations will provide automatic inter-se parity between Indian School Boards. Therefore, students can migrate smoothly between different School Education Boards across the country without facing recognition barriers.
The equivalence certificates issued by NCERT will carry validity throughout India. As a result, this system facilitates seamless educational transitions for students moving between different states and education systems nationwide.
