The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has issued two separate notices for schools, teachers and students. One notice is about the enrolment of teachers and school heads in NISHTHA courses for the 2026-27 academic session. The other informs schools about more than 845 curriculum-aligned Virtual Labs and digital learning resources available through the DIKSHA platform.
NISHTHA courses for 2026-27
The first notice invites teachers and school heads to enrol in NISHTHA courses for the April to October 2026 cycle. The National Initiative for School Heads’ and Teachers’ Holistic Advancement (NISHTHA) is a professional development programme aimed at improving the skills of teachers and school heads.For the 2026-27 academic year, courses are being offered under NISHTHA Category II (Proficiency Courses) and NISHTHA Category III (Advanced Courses). The courses are being offered through the Central Institute of Educational Technology-National Council of Educational Research and Training (CIET-NCERT).Under NISHTHA Category II, two courses are available:
- NISHTHA Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FLN)
- NISHTHA Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE)
These courses are meant for all school heads and teachers working at the foundational and preparatory stages, up to Grade 5.The enrolment closing date for these courses is August 31, 2026, while the course closing date is September 15, 2026.Under NISHTHA Category III, the following courses are available:
- Cyber Hygiene Practices: Personal Digital Devices
- Environmental Hazards of Electronic Waste (E-waste)
- Action Research
- Catch the Rain (English)
- Catch the Rain (Hindi)
These courses are open to all school heads and teachers.Teachers and school heads can access the courses through the NISHTHA courses portal. The board has also asked schools to share the information with teachers and encourage them to take part in the courses.
845+ Virtual Labs available on DIKSHA
In its second notice, CBSE has informed schools about more than 845 curriculum-aligned Virtual Labs and digital learning resources available through DIKSHA.The resources have been developed by the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology through CIET-NCERT. The Virtual Labs are mainly focused on Science and Mathematics and are mapped to the NCERT curriculum.Students and teachers can access these resources in several ways.The DIKSHA (Digital Infrastructure for Knowledge Sharing) portal and mobile app provide grade-wise, subject-wise and chapter-wise access to Virtual Labs.Virtual Labs are also mapped with QR codes in NCERT textbooks. Students can scan the relevant QR code to access the available digital resources.The board has also provided grade-wise QR codes that give access to Virtual Labs and chapters across different grades.Another feature is Ask DIKSHA, an artificial intelligence-powered tool that allows users to search for relevant Virtual Labs and other digital resources.Students can also use DIKSHA Personalised Adaptive Learning (PAL) courses to access Virtual Labs through the platform.CBSE has asked all affiliated schools to share the information with students, teachers and other stakeholders and encourage them to use these learning resources.The two notices are aimed at supporting teacher training as well as giving students and teachers easier access to digital learning material through the DIKSHA platform.
