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Hyderabad's school community is coming out strongly against the recent decision made by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) that high-definition CCTV cameras equipped with audio-visual recording be placed in classrooms. Although the move is made in the interest of enhanced safety among the students, teachers and educators are opposing it as it trespasses upon privacy and impacts the learning environment.

According to the modified CBSE bylaws, schools are going to be required to fit real-time CCTV monitoring not only in corridors, libraries, and canteens but also inside classrooms and laboratories. The directive has been criticized by teachers and budget school administrations alike who complain about the directive being intrusive and expensive.

"Security must be maintained, but monitoring in classrooms gets in the way of day-to-day communication of the teachers with the students," said a teacher of a private school. "It may also lead to constant self-censorship, which works as a barrier to effective teaching."

Correspondent at Jain International School Dr Chandrasekhar had similar sentiments. "While observation would restrain bad behavior, excessive monitoring may destroy creativity and autonomy of the classrooms. There has to be a balanced approach," he continued.

Whereas other low-cost private schools also labelled the outrageous cost of putting up and sustaining high-tech CCTV equipment in all classrooms as a call for making the measure a non-starter for resource-poor schools,

M Uma Devi, principal of Shamshabad's Oasis School of Excellence, responded that her school never practices classroom recording. "We have fixed cameras outside the school for safety of students, but teaching in classrooms needs to be surveillance-free," she said.

Certain teachers requested CBSE to restrict monitoring only to non-academic spaces like entrance, staircases, and playgrounds so that footage will not be misused and sanctity of classrooms will be preserved.

As the debate rages on in Hyderabad, schools are waiting for the CBSE to announce a policy shift to balance student safety with education freedom and privacy.

In a ruling that places students' well-being at the forefront of school life, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) issued a new circular asking all its affiliated schools to introduce "Oil Boards" as a standing reminder to promote improved food habits. "Oil Boards" are pictorial reminders such as posters or digital boards in public spaces reminding one to avoid excessive intake of fatty oils and fats.

The release on July 15, 2025, comes as a natural follow-up to CBSE's last "Sugar Boards" campaign, emphasizing its belief in preventive health in the form of awareness and student behavioral change.

With an increasing issue of obesity in India, especially among adolescents and children, at the center of the campaign. According to data from NFHS-5 (2019–21), one out of every five urban Indian adults is overweight or obese. Even more ominous, a new study published in The Lancet puts the percentage of overweight and obese Indian adults by 2050 at twice the current level. Lifestyle diseases used to be a problem only among adults but are now increasingly becoming young people and adolescents because of high-fat and high-sugar foods and the lack of exercise.

Schools need to step forward

This, CBSE is inviting schools to make the children stakeholders of their own health process. Schools now face the challenge of:

• Placing "Oil Boards" in cafeterias, corridors, and common rooms to make the children talk about the impact of high-fat food.

• Designing health-conscious messages on school diaries, notebooks, and folders, reminding the children daily to re-think their activity and food routine.

• Expand on-campus access to improved dietary choices in the form of whole fruits and vegetables and low-fat items, while minimizing sales of packaged foods and sweets simultaneously.

• Encourage physical activity through "movement breaks," encouraging stairway use, and creating walkways throughout school properties.

Importantly, the campaign calls upon students to become creators, not consumers. Schools are invited to include Oil Board design as part of school activity so that students can do research, brainstorm and produce health communication materials, an exercise in life skills and imagination.

The circular also requests schools to tackle pertinent educational content available on the official YouTube channel of FSSAI. Schools may also contact FSSAI on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for information or resources.

This program is an expression of growing acknowledgment that the classroom can no longer be isolated from the larger matters of student way of life and well-being. Through visual reminders, same-peer interaction, and school-level interaction, CBSE seeks to instill habits among students that go beyond the classroom and pervade the wellness structures.

For the stressed-out study generation, digital fatigue, and changing food habits, the decision by CBSE is an eye-opener that learning to make healthier decisions is as crucial as learning to solve a math problem.

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has released a fresh circular to schools that are affiliated to the board stating that now they can admit up to 45 students per section in exceptional cases.

This action, as spelt out in Circular No. 11/2025, is intended to resolve issues faced by schools in hosting students, especially when dealing with transfers or other special circumstances. The exception will only be exercised where schools cannot keep within the standard cap of 40 students per section.

Major changes and background overview

This order is a sequel to an earlier resolution made by the board in August 2023, where it had eased the student number from 40 to 45 for the 2023-24 to 2025-26 academic sessions. The relaxation was made to enable schools to manage current numbers of students and make admissions commensurate with the prescribed standards. It was also anticipated that schools would, however, endeavor to control student admission incrementally and maintain classroom emptiness.

Earlier, in May 2024, CBSE had announced an amendment permitting schools to admit students mid-session or those who come under the category of "essential repeat" over the 40-student cap, but only on a case-to-case basis. Applications were to be made by schools to the respective Regional Offices for sanction. This latest revision widens the ambit of exceptions to cover more situations.

Conditions for admission over the limit

According to the new guidelines, 45 students per section can be admitted by schools, subject to certain conditions. Schools will have to note the reasons for going beyond the limit in the online registration portal, as well as in the Admission & Withdrawal Register. This will be applicable to all classes from 1 to 12.

The principal conditions are:

The school is required to maintain classroom areas of a minimum 500 square feet, as per CBSE's mandatory one square meter of built-up floor area per student. No school is allowed to admit in excess of 45 students per section, even in special situations.

The justification for admitting in excess of 40 students must be recorded and sanctioned through the OASIS portal.

The board has also stressed that such an exception holds in instances where infrastructure allows, with an immediate appeal for schools to enhance physical infrastructure wherever possible in order to ultimately revert to the ideal student-to-classroom ratio.

National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has released a new book on Class 8 maths called Ganit Prakash, which has been posted on NCERT's official web page.

It is in sync with National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 and National Curriculum Framework for School Education (NCF-SE) 2023. It has already come out with ten of its books in detail this year for Classes 5 and 8.

AN INTERACTIVE, ACTIVITY-BASED APPROACH

Ganit Prakash is activity-based and fun-based, by using puzzles, storytelling, and recall of India's rich mathematical heritage -- from Aryabhata and Bhaskaracharya to Ramanujan.

The book has been authored in a manner such that it would challenge critical thinking and contextualize mathematics to guide the students step by step on how to think and build conceptual confidence.

NCERT has given the textbook source book status for the students, parents, and teachers to try to introduce a smiling goal-oriented learning system.

ADDITIONAL NEP-ALIGNED TEXTBOOKS

Ganit Prakash book is one of the full revision of Class 8 book materials. New Science, Social Science, English, Hindi, Art and Vocational books have also been published.

They are committed to experiential, heritage and inclusive learning to transition from rote to creative, inter-disciplinary and skill-based learning.

For instance, in a Class 8 Science textbook, Curiosity, insertions of India's scientific legacy -- situating early concepts of atoms and water clocks -- within modern science concepts.

The Social Science book is balanced, for instance a 22-page chapter on Marathas and balanced evaluation of Mughal emperors.

CULTURAL ROOTING THROUGH TEXTBOOK TITLES

NCERT has encouraged the use of Hindi titles and Roman script for certain subjects -- Indianizing a past practice. Ganit Prakash is one such example. The inspiration is to be understood as homogeneous and culturally motivated. But there have been states that have been at loggerheads.

NCERT does assist the change by quoting that names like Ganit Prakash transcend cultural norms and are a contribution India is making to mathematics.

IMPLICATIONS FOR TEACHING AND LEARNING

This shift of emphasis towards India's epistemological heritage based curriculum complemented by experiential learning is for learning as well as for critical thinking.

NCERT model conforms to NEP vision of contextualization of education so that it becomes a more robust culturally responsive and creative effort.

With books like these received by NCERT, it continues to enrich content with inputs received from parents, children, and teachers. Success with Ganit Prakash and other similar books has long-term effects on influencing teachers and the method of teaching in India

Taking a big leap in improving the safety of students, the Uttar Pradesh government has introduced an ₹80 crore program to de-string high-tension (HT) and low-tension (LT) power cables passing over government schools in the state.

The ambitious scheme will include all primary, upper primary, and secondary schools that fall under the Basic and Secondary Education departments. The Power Department has already given instructions to facilitate quick and orderly implementation of the scheme.

Dr Ashish Kumar Goel, the Chairman of Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation Ltd (UPPCL), has directed regional managing directors of the state's four key power distribution zones of Purvanchal, Madhyanchal, Paschimanchal, and Dakshinanchal to get in touch with local government officials for implementing the move forthwith.

District-level committees consisting of District Magistrates (DMs), Chief Development Officers (CDOs), Basic Shiksha Adhikaris (BSAs), and District Inspectors of Schools (DIOS) shall spot the affected school buildings and monitor line-removal activities. The committees have been asked to conduct their first meeting within three days to initiate the process.

To minimize disruption to learning by students, officials have been directed to plan the removal of the line during school breaks whenever possible. Short-term closures might be considered in situations where urgent work cannot be avoided.

This step comes in the wake of increasing concerns regarding the safety of children at school, particularly in rural and semi-urban belts where overhead cables tend to pass close to schools. The move is a part of the overall effort by the state to make school infrastructure child-safe and resilient.

The project will not only remove an overlooked hazard but also mark a serious turn to put child safety high on the agenda in schools, officials stated.

The Haryana School Education Board has instructed all schools under the state to make recitation of lines from Shrimad Bhagavad Gita a part of their daily prayer sessions.

In a letter to school principals, the Board's Chairman wrote that recitation of these lines will help in students' all-around development.

The HSEB is of the view that Gita teachings have moral and spiritual lessons that can inspire young minds positively. The action aims to instill in schoolchildren values of discipline, responsibility, and concentration.

"The reason for introducing recitation of Bhagavad Gita verses in school prayer meetings is that children must learn from the spirituality and the wisdom that the scripture contains in abundance and implement them in their life for the welfare of society," Pawan Kumar, Chairman HSEB, said.

"We wish to observe the change in the coming generations so that they can become an example to the world and make India the Vishwaguru, as PM Modi has also stated. In the past, people from across the globe used to visit India for spiritual knowledge. India's spiritual knowledge is world-class," he further stated.

The ruling is applicable to government and private schools associated with the HSEB. Principals have been requested to make certain verses read on a regular basis in morning assemblies.

This comes against the backdrop of continued attempts by the state to incorporate value- and culture-based learning into the school curriculum. The move has been welcomed by some educators for its moral teachings but could generate arguments regarding the place of religious texts in public schools.

The officials have explained that the verses will be taught in a manner that highlights their philosophical and educational content, rather than religious education.

The roll-out is set to take place in the next academic session in Haryana schools.