Institutions Involved in Educational Policy Planning and Implementation

Educational policy doesn’t just exist on paper – it comes alive through a network of specialized institutions working at every level of the system, from state capitals down to individual districts. In India, the planning and implementation of educational policy is not the work of a single body but a coordinated effort involving multiple organizations, each with a distinct mandate. Understanding who these bodies are, what they do, and how they relate to each other gives us a clearer picture of how education actually reaches students in classrooms across the country.

State Boards of Education: setting the standards for learning 🔗

State Boards of Education are among the most visible institutions in India’s educational landscape. As of today, there are 32 different state boards across the country, each responsible for governing school education within its respective state. Their core responsibilities include implementing education policies as per the norms set by the Central Government, maintaining uniformity of education across state board schools, laying down the guiding principles for syllabi and curriculum, and conducting board examinations for students completing their secondary and higher secondary education.

What makes state boards particularly significant is their context-sensitivity. State boards design their curriculum to suit the social, economic, and cultural context of the respective state, ensuring that education is meaningful and locally relevant for students. The medium of instruction typically includes the regional language alongside English, which helps preserve regional culture and identity – something national boards like CBSE or ICSE, which follow a centralised curriculum, are not designed to prioritize.

State boards also prescribe conditions for school admissions and issue certifications to students who pass their examinations. Under India’s constitutional framework, education is on the concurrent list, meaning states are free to decide their own policies and plans – and state boards are the primary vehicle through which this autonomy is exercised at the school level.

Alignment with national policy 🔗

State boards don’t operate in isolation. They are expected to align their curriculum and assessment frameworks with overarching national directives, such as the National Policy on Education and more recently, the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, which introduced a new 5+3+3+4 curricular framework replacing the older 10+2 structure. This shift requires state boards to rethink not just what is taught, but how students are assessed – moving towards more competency-based and experiential approaches. The degree and pace of implementation, however, varies significantly across states.

English Language Teaching Institutes (ELTIs): strengthening English education 🔗

English Language Teaching Institutes, commonly known as ELTIs, are specialized state-level bodies dedicated to improving the quality of English language education. Their primary function is to train English teachers across different school levels – from lower primary to higher secondary – so that students across the state receive better, more effective instruction in the language.

A well-documented example is ELTI Assam (ELTIA), an autonomous organization established in 1986 under the Department of Education, Government of Assam. It is academically and financially supported by the English and Foreign Languages University (EFLU), Hyderabad, which also provides academic support in the form of designing curriculum, developing syllabi and learning materials, teacher resource materials, and train-the-trainer courses. ELTIA runs a range of programmes, including in-service training, spoken English courses, language research projects, material production and publication, and seminars – covering teachers of lower primary, upper primary, and secondary schools.

Similarly, ELTI Uttar Pradesh was originally conceived in December 1956 by the British Council with financial assistance from the Nuffield Foundation. It was later taken over by the Government of Uttar Pradesh in 1963 and eventually integrated into the State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) in 1981. Today it functions as a nucleus for English teaching and learning for teachers at all levels from primary to higher secondary in the state.

Coordination and collaboration 🔗

ELTIs do not work in silos. ELTI Assam, for instance, collaborates with organizations like SCERT, SSA, RMSA, and even international bodies such as the British Council to conduct teacher training programmes and develop teaching-learning materials. This inter-agency coordination is what makes ELTIs effective as policy implementation bodies – they translate language education goals into tangible classroom practices through continuous teacher support.

State Publication and Textbook Boards: putting the curriculum into students’ hands 🔗

A well-designed curriculum is only as effective as the materials that carry it into classrooms. This is where State Publication and Textbook Boards come in. These bodies are responsible for the preparation, publication, and distribution of textbooks and other educational materials aligned with the state curriculum.

Different states have set up this function in different ways. In Gujarat, for example, the Gujarat State Board of School Textbooks works in collaboration with the Gujarat Council of Educational Research and Training to deliver textbooks for all classes from 1 to 12. In Bihar, the Bihar State Text Book Publishing Corporation Ltd (BSTBPC) is the state authority responsible for publishing Bihar Board books in accordance with norms prescribed by the NCERT.

In some states like Karnataka, approximately 40 percent of textbooks are given to private publishers to print, while the rest remain under government publication control. This reflects how states manage the balance between state oversight and practical production capacity.

Content development and quality assurance 🔗

The work of textbook boards goes well beyond printing. The curriculum and textbook departments within these bodies develop and evaluate textbooks and workbooks for core subjects such as Mathematics, Science, English, Hindi, and Social Science from Classes 1 to 8. The development process includes researching current educational trends, consulting subject matter experts, incorporating feedback from teachers and students, and then conducting rigorous evaluation to ensure materials are effective and engaging before wide-scale distribution.

Many states also direct their textbook bodies to generate state-specific supplementary content to complement NCERT textbooks for higher classes – content that reflects the state’s unique cultural, historical, and geographical context. This makes learning more locally resonant rather than purely national in orientation.

SCERT and DIETs: the backbone of teacher education and research 🔗

No institution plays a more pivotal role in educational quality at the state and district level than the State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) and the District Institutes of Education and Training (DIETs). Together, they form a two-tier structure that connects state-level policy with ground-level implementation.

The role of SCERT 🔗

The SCERT is the academic wing of the state education department. It functions as the nodal agency for curriculum development, teacher education programmes, research, and the development of instructional materials for school education. SCERT is recognized by the National Council of Teacher Education (NCTE) for admission, curriculum construction, course conduct, guidance, examination, and certification of pre-service training programmes in early childhood care and elementary education.

In West Bengal, for instance, SCERT was established as a Post Graduate Research and Training Institution in 1980 and functions under the Department of School Education, Government of West Bengal, to carry out specific tasks for quality improvement of school education. SCERTs across states are also responsible for overseeing and providing guidance to DIETs functioning within their states.

The role of DIETs 🔗

District Institutes of Education and Training (DIETs) were set up following the National Policy on Education of 1986, which emphasized the need to create a decentralized system of teacher education to enhance the professional competence of teachers at the grassroots level. DIETs function as district-level academic nodal institutions conducting both pre-service and in-service training of teachers, providing need-based training in both short-term and long-term formats, and supporting teachers in professional and leadership development.

Their functions are wide-ranging. According to the Ministry of Education’s framework for DIETs, they are responsible for pre-service teacher education, in-service teacher training, curriculum and material development tailored to local contexts, educational planning and research at the district level, and monitoring and evaluation of school quality. DIETs have also been empowered to design practicum components for teacher education courses in ways that reinforce classroom learning – giving them meaningful academic flexibility.

Under NEP 2020, SCERT is tasked with leading a “change management process” for reinvigorating DIETs, alongside Block Resource Centres (BRCs) and Cluster Resource Centres (CRCs), to develop them into vibrant institutions of excellence. The vision is a clear hierarchical collaboration: SCERTs guide DIETs, which in turn oversee BRCs and CRCs – ensuring that policy flows from the state level all the way down to individual school clusters.

DIETs and action research 🔗

One underappreciated function of DIETs is their role in educational research. DIETs act as nodal institutions at the district level to undertake all kinds of educational research activities, preferably in collaboration with SCERT faculty and universities. This action research capacity means that DIETs don’t just implement policy – they generate the evidence that helps refine it. From understanding local learning gaps to developing district-specific teaching materials, this research function makes DIETs far more than mere training centres.

How these institutions work together 🔗

While each institution has a distinct mandate, they are most effective when functioning as an interconnected system. State Boards define what students need to learn and how they will be assessed. Textbook Boards ensure that appropriate materials reach classrooms. ELTIs ensure that English teachers are equipped to deliver quality instruction. SCERTs develop the curriculum and oversee teacher education at the state level, while DIETs carry that work into every district – training teachers, conducting research, and monitoring schools on the ground.

This layered architecture reflects a deliberate design principle in Indian educational policy: that quality education requires coordination between institutions at the national, state, and district levels, each reinforcing the other. When any one of these links is weak – whether due to under-resourcing, poor coordination, or inadequate training – the impact is felt directly in the quality of teaching and learning that students experience.

What do you think? Given that DIETs are present in nearly every district but often face resource constraints, what changes in governance or funding might make them more effective in improving teacher quality at the local level? And considering how differently state boards across India approach curriculum design, do you think a greater degree of national standardization would help students – or would it come at the cost of regional relevance?

References

1. https://www.myprivatetutor.com/blog/understanding-the-educational-state-boards-in-india-and-their-significance
2. https://educationforallinindia.com/understanding-the-education-system-in-india-a-comprehensive-guide/
3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Policy_on_Education
4. https://www.21kschool.com/in/blog/national-education-policy/
5. https://eltiassam.assam.gov.in/about-us/detail/about-the-institute
6. https://www.efluniversity.ac.in/eltiss.php
7. https://eltiup.org/
8. https://elementary.assam.gov.in/portlet-innerpage/training-programmes-conducted-by-elti
9. https://www.studiestoday.com/state-board-books
10. https://www.education.gov.in/sites/upload_files/mhrd/files/document-reports/textbooks.pdf
11. https://scertharyana.gov.in/text-book-department/
12. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_Council_of_Educational_Research_and_Training,_Delhi
13. https://scertwb.org/information-regarding-diets-at-a-glance/
14. https://educationforallinindia.com/diets-in-india-present-status-challenges/
15. https://dietbaksa.in/role-function-diet
16. https://dsel.education.gov.in/sites/default/files/guidelines/Concept_Note_DIET.pdf
17. https://scert.delhi.gov.in/scert/district-institute-education-training-diet