Hrushikesh Senapaty to take charge as new NCERT director

By NewsGram Staff-Writer

New Delhi: Human Resource and Development ministry (HRD) on Monday appointed Hrushikesh Senapaty as the new director for the National Council of Education, Research and Training (NCERT). He has replaced Pravin Sinclair, who was abruptly removed from the post last year.

Earlier on August 24, the search-cum selection committee of NCERT had finalised the names of Senapaty and Anil Shukla for the coveted job. Later, Senapaty was declared fit for the job over Shukla because of his vast experience in the NCERT system. Skukla is a professor in Lucknow University's education department, while Senapaty is currently the Principal at NCERT's Regional Institute of Education, Bhopal.

The selection committee includes vice-chancellor of Banaras Hindu University, GC Tripathi, NIT Jaipur's director, I K Bhat, former Principal of DPS RK Puram, Shyama Chona and MK Sridhar, Professor at Canara Bank School of Mangement Studies (CBSMS).

On Senapaty's appointment, a ministry official said, "He has never served in Delhi and is expected to bring a fresh perspective to the NCERT that is known for groupism and political affiliations of faculty members."

The source further explained, "The first priority for Senapaty as the new director would be to revise the NCERT text books and frame a new curriculum which has not been updated from 2005. He then has to dedicate his resources in speeding up the proposed New Education Policy."

Having ample amount of experience working at NCERT, Senapaty is a UNESCO fellow working dedicatedly on information and communication technology in education (ICTE). He is an alumnus of Ravenshaw College, Cuttack and BJP College, Bhubaneshwar. Senapaty is also a doctorate scholar from Devi Ahilya University, Indore.