Educational Bodies

Educational Bodies – Complete GK Capsule

Static-GK weightage in Railway exams: 3-6 Qs per paper. “Educational Bodies” alone fetch 1-2 sure-shot marks.


1. Constitutional & Statutory Bodies at a Glance
BodyParent Act / ArticleYearHeadquarterChairman* (as on 1 Jan 2024)
UGCUGC Act, 19561956New DelhiProf. M. Jagadesh Kumar
AICTEAICTE Act, 19871987New DelhiProf. T. G. Sitharam
NCERTRegistered Soc. under Societies Reg. Act1961New DelhiProf. Dinesh Prasad Saklani
NCTENCTE Act, 19931995 (effective)New DelhiDr. Satbir Bedi
NAACAutonomous, UGC1994BengaluruProf. G. Hemantha Kumar
CBSECBSE Act, 19621962New DelhiShri Nidhi Chhibber (IAS)
NIOSNIOS Act, 19891989NoidaDr. Saroj Sharma
IGNOUIGNOU Act, 19851985New DelhiProf. Nageshwar Rao
NHERCNEP-2020 proposal (subsumed NTA)2022 (operational)New Delhi(merged with NTA)
NTASociety under DoHE2017New DelhiShri Pradeep Kumar Joshi

*Chairmen keep changing; remember the designation & head-quarter for exams.


2. Key Milestones & Firsts
EventDate / Year
Radhakrishnan Commission (Uni. Edu.)1948-49
First UGC ChairmanDr. Shanti Swaroop Bhatnagar (1953-55)
NCERT established1 Sept 1961
First Education Policy (Modi govt.)NEP-1968
Latest NEP released29 July 2020
CBSE moved from Ajmer to Delhi1962
First Open School in IndiaNIOS (1989)
First IITIIT Kharagpur, 1951
First IIMIIM Calcutta, 1961
First NITNIT Warangal (earlier REC), 1959

3. Acronyms You Must Memorise
AcronymFull Form
UGCUniversity Grants Commission
AICTEAll India Council for Technical Education
NCERTNational Council of Educational Research & Training
NCTENational Council for Teacher Education
NAACNational Assessment & Accreditation Council
CBSECentral Board of Secondary Education
CISCECouncil for Indian School Certificate Examinations
NIOSNational Institute of Open Schooling
IGNOUIndira Gandhi National Open University
NTANational Testing Agency
NHERCNational Higher Education Regulatory Council (merged)
CABECentral Advisory Board of Education
KVSKendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan
NVSNavodaya Vidyalaya Samiti

4. One-liner Revision Bullets
  • UGC is the only grant-giving body in higher education; established 1953 as statutory, 1956 by Act.
  • AICTE approves new technical institutes; its Model Curriculum 2018 introduced mandatory Induction Program.
  • NCERT publishes National Curriculum Framework (NCF); latest is NCF-2023 aligned to NEP-2020.
  • CBSE is the largest board in world by number of schools (~28,000).
  • NIOS is the largest open schooling system in world (≈ 3.5 million learners).
  • IGNOU has 21 Schools, 67 Regional Centres, 29 Overseas Centres.
  • NTA conducts JEE-Main, NEET-UG, CUET, GPAT, CMAT etc.
  • NAAC grades institutions on 4-point scale: A++, A+, A, B++, B, C (A++ highest).
  • NCTE is mandatory for recognition of B.Ed./D.El.Ed programmes.
  • CABE is the oldest advisory body (1920 revived 1935 & 1992).

5. MCQ Practice Zone (>15 Questions)

Q1. Which of the following bodies is responsible for maintaining standards in school education curriculum?

  • A. UGC
  • B. AICTE
  • C. NCERT
  • D. NCTE
Show AnswerAnswer: C. NCERT

Q2. The headquarters of NAAC is located at

  • A. New Delhi
  • B. Bengaluru
  • C. Pune
  • D. Hyderabad
Show AnswerAnswer: B. Bengaluru

Q3. In which year was the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 launched?

  • A. 2019
  • B. 2020
  • C. 2021
  • D. 2022
Show AnswerAnswer: B. 2020 (29 July)

Q4. Which body conducts the JEE-Main examination?

  • A. CBSE
  • B. AICTE
  • C. NTA
  • D. UGC
Show AnswerAnswer: C. NTA

Q5. First IIT of India was set up in

  • A. Mumbai
  • B. Kharagpur
  • C. Madras
  • D. Delhi
Show AnswerAnswer: B. Kharagpur (1951)

Q6. The University Grants Commission (UGC) was established under which Act?

  • A. UGC Act, 1950
  • B. UGC Act, 1952
  • C. UGC Act, 1956
  • D. UGC Act, 1961
Show AnswerAnswer: C. UGC Act, 1956

Q7. National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) was earlier known as

  • A. National Open School
  • B. Open School Board
  • C. Distance Education Board
  • D. Flexible Learning Board
Show AnswerAnswer: A. National Open School

Q8. Which of the following is NOT a function of AICTE?

  • A. Approval of new technical institutions
  • B. Funding research projects in universities
  • C. Maintaining quality of technical education
  • D. Accreditation of MBA programmes
Show AnswerAnswer: B. Funding research projects in universities (UGC does it)

Q9. The grading system of NAAC ranges from

  • A. A to E
  • B. A++ to C
  • C. 1 to 10
  • D. Alpha to Gamma
Show AnswerAnswer: B. A++ to C

Q10. Who is the current Chairman of UGC (as on 1 Jan 2024)?

  • A. Dr. Rajnish Jain
  • B. Prof. M. Jagadesh Kumar
  • C. Prof. D. P. Singh
  • D. Shri Ramesh Pokhriyal
Show AnswerAnswer: B. Prof. M. Jagadesh Kumar

Q11. IGNOU was established in which year?

  • A. 1985
  • B. 1986
  • C. 1987
  • D. 1988
Show AnswerAnswer: A. 1985 (Indira Gandhi’s birth anniversary year)

Q12. Which body is responsible for teacher education norms in India?

  • A. NCERT
  • B. NCTE
  • C. CBSE
  • D. KVS
Show AnswerAnswer: B. NCTE

Q13. Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE) was first set up in

  • A. 1915
  • B. 1920
  • C. 1935
  • D. 1947
Show AnswerAnswer: B. 1920

Q14. Which of the following pairs is correctly matched?

  • A. CBSE – Technical education
  • B. AICTE – School education
  • C. UGC – Higher education funding
  • D. NTA – Teacher eligibility test only
Show AnswerAnswer: C. UGC – Higher education funding

Q15. The largest open schooling system in the world is

  • A. IGNOU
  • B. NIOS
  • C. Swayam
  • D. CBSE-i
Show AnswerAnswer: B. NIOS

Q16. Which of the following is a constitutional body?

  • A. UGC
  • B. AICTE
  • C. NCERT
  • D. None of the above
Show AnswerAnswer: D. None of the above (all are statutory/autonomous)

Q17. “NEP 2020” proposes to set up which new regulatory body to replace UGC & AICTE?

  • A. NHERC
  • B. NTA
  • C. HECI
  • D. NAC
Show AnswerAnswer: C. HECI (Higher Education Commission of India)

6. Quick Table – Who Does What?
DomainRegulatory / Policy BodyImplementing Body
School CurriculumMHRD + CABENCERT
School Board ExamsCBSE / CISCERespective Boards
Teacher TrainingNCTEUniversities, SCERTs
Technical InstitutesAICTEState govts., Institutes
University GrantsUGCUniversities
Open & Distance LearningUGC-DEBIGNOU, State Open Universities
Quality BenchmarkNAACInstitutions voluntarily
Common Entrance TestsNTA

Last-minute tip: Remember the headquarter = New Delhi for 7 out of 9 major bodies (except NAAC-Bengaluru & NIOS-Noida).