By Ananya Sharma 
New Delhi, September 24: The Central Board of Secondary Education(CBSE) has had a week full of announcements and controversies. New teacher training modules in Patna, fresh exam schedules for 2026, fixes in its digital ID system, a language fight in Tamil Nadu, and a Noida school facing police action after a child’s death. CBSE has been everywhere at once.
Training Teachers, Again
At the National Teachers Conference in Patna, CBSE launched 14 new training programmes. The focus: classroom innovation, digital tools, inclusivity, all the things policymakers have been repeating since NEP 2020.
For teachers, it is another manual, another session. Some welcome the help, others roll their eyes. A senior teacher from Delhi told me, “They keep calling it capacity building, but we are already stretched thin. When do we implement all this?” That mix of hope and fatigue sums up the reality. Good ideas meet tired classrooms.
Two Exam Windows For Class 10
The big change for students is two sessions of board exams for Class 10 in 2026. One in February to March, another in May to June. Class 12 will stick to the traditional single run from mid-February to early April.
On paper, it looks like flexibility. In practice, it may add another layer of anxiety. Well-off schools will adapt quickly. Small-town schools may not. Parents are confused. Will colleges treat both sessions equally? Is one considered tougher than the other? CBSE has not answered those questions yet.
Still, families at least have dates in hand. “We can finally plan tuition and holidays,” one Lucknow parent said. That relief counts, even if the doubts remain.
Apaar ID With A Back Door
The Apaar ID was supposed to be smooth, a lifelong digital account for every student storing marks and skills. Instead, it is already running into Aadhaar mismatches. To avoid chaos, CBSE has added an “unverified” option so students can register despite errors.
It is a patch, not a fix. Anyone who has struggled with Aadhaar knew this was coming: spelling mistakes, old addresses, small data entry errors. Without the back door, hundreds of kids could have been blocked from registering.
The bigger worry has not gone away. Parents are asking who protects all this student data. Teachers are grumbling about the extra paperwork. The vision is ambitious, but on the ground, it is another login, another form.
Tamil Nadu’s Language Flashpoint
In Chennai, the Madras High Court refused to admit a PIL challenging Tamil Nadu’s decision to let private schools make Tamil optional till Class X. The petitioner argued it erodes culture, but the court was not convinced and has asked for stronger arguments.
This is not just a local fight. CBSE schools often get caught in such disputes, accused of ignoring local identities while promoting a national model. Parents in cities want flexibility, especially migrant families. Tamil groups see it as cultural dilution. The court’s eventual call could set the tone for other states juggling identity and education.
Tragedy In Noida
The darkest headline comes from Noida. Nearly three weeks after a Class 6 student died on campus at Presidium School, police have filed an FIR. The allegations are negligence and broken CCTV systems, a violation of CBSE’s own safety norms.
Rules exist on paper. Cameras, secure gates, safety drills. But monitoring is weak. Schools file reports, CBSE ticks boxes, and parents trust. Until something goes wrong. This case is now a test of accountability, not just for one school but for CBSE’s oversight itself.
A Board Under Pressure
All these stories point in one direction. CBSE is stretched. It is trying to push reforms, digitise records, expand flexibility, respect state politics, and enforce safety. It serves nearly three crore students. The ambitions are big. The gaps are just as big.
Teachers are tired. Parents are anxious. Courts are involved. And in Noida, a family is grieving. That is the weight CBSE carries. More than marksheets, it is about trust. And right now, that trust feels fragile.
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- Ananya Sharmahttps://hindustanherald.in/author/ananya/
- Ananya Sharmahttps://hindustanherald.in/author/ananya/
- Ananya Sharmahttps://hindustanherald.in/author/ananya/
- Ananya Sharmahttps://hindustanherald.in/author/ananya/
Kavita Iyer