The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has released a big directive that orders every school head and teacher within its affiliated institutions to undergo yearly professional training. According to the new guidelines, each teacher and school head should receive at least 50 hours of training per year under the Board’s Continuous Professional Development (CPD) program. This step ties well with National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 and the National Professional Standards for Teachers (NPST), reaffirming CBSE’s position to ensure quality teaching and accountability within the education system.

Under two individual notices—TRG-3/2025 and TRG-2/2025—dated April 1, 2025, the Training Unit of the CBSE provided a systematic framework that not only prescribes the amount of compulsory training hours but also explicitly classifies the sources and nature of the training. Teachers need to obtain 25 hours of training under CBSE or government-sponsored regional training institutions, whereas the remaining 25 hours need to be achieved through school complex-based or in-house training. These sessions will be designed around the major standards and benchmarks stipulated in the NPST, fostering teacher excellence, reflective practice, and enhanced learning outcomes for students.

CPD is not merely about recording hours of training but is to instill in teachers a culture of continued learning. By concentrating on balanced professional development, the Board hopes to impart teachers with abilities necessary to be able to adopt evolving educational models, develop skill to integrate technology, and apply cutting-edge pedagogical methods in the classroom. In accordance with CBSE, this program will have a direct impact on developing teaching capacity, thus improving the overall teaching-learning process of schools.

Appreciating the various roles that teachers undertake, the Board has also made provisions for academically oriented activities to be part of the 50-hour CPD. Some of these include responsibilities such as being Class X and XII board examination evaluators, being practical examiners, working on research projects, and giving presentations at education conferences. Such contributions, including the work of creating e-content, composing curriculum-based projects, contributing towards item-writing and curriculum review undertaken by CBSE, and watching educational content available on channels such as DD PM e-Vidya Channel CBSE 15 will also fall under CPD hours, as specified in official notifications.

Apart from formal training hours, CBSE has urged all the affiliated schools to conduct District Level Deliberations (DLDs), particularly on STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) education. The DLDs are intended to create grassroots-level innovation by allowing teachers and educators to interact in local learning communities. Through collaborative deliberation, exchange of best practices, and pedagogical reflection on challenges, these deliberations are meant to close the gap between national educational aspirations and local classroom conditions.

The focus on localized deliberations also demonstrates the CBSE’s recognition that a generic solution might not cater to the distinct challenges and opportunities of varying areas. Through empowering teachers with the ability to contextualize training and match it with local learning requirements, CBSE aims to construct more responsive and relevant learning environments for pupils.

The NEP 2020 has already established a solid foundation for India’s education system by emphasizing teacher development, digital education, competency-based education, and all-around development. CBSE’s CPD mandate further converts these objectives into implementable steps that schools and teachers can adopt in a systematic manner. With the incorporation of NPST standards, this training program also establishes a benchmark for quality assurance in teacher education and development.

All CBSE-associated schools have been directed to make strict adherence to these new guidelines a reality. Schools must monitor, keep a record of, and report the number of training hours that every teacher undergoes every year. The Board has made it clear that professional development is not an empty formality but a central component of the education ecosystem that must be seriously invested in and engaged with.

This programme is a huge leap towards professionalising teaching in India. In institutionalising continuous learning and growth, CBSE not only consolidates the capacity of individual teachers but also reinforces the overall agendas of equity, quality, and innovation in education being constantly followed and attained.