CBSE opens advanced NISHTHA courses for teachers on cyber hygiene, e-waste

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has opened five advanced online courses for teachers and school heads under the second cycle of the NISHTHA teacher training programme for 2026-27, it announced on Friday, October 9, 2026. The courses, offered online through the government's DIKSHA platform, cover practical topics such as cyber hygiene, the hazards of electronic waste, action research in classrooms and water conservation. Two further courses on foundational literacy and numeracy (FLN) and early childhood care and education (ECCE) are also open in this cycle. According to the official listing by the Central Institute of Educational Technology (CIET) under NCERT, the second cycle began on October 1, enrolment closes on March 10, 2027, and the courses end on March 15, 2027.

NISHTHA, the National Initiative for School Heads' and Teachers' Holistic Advancement, is the government's main in-service training programme for school staff. The National Education Policy 2020 asks teachers to keep learning throughout their careers, and short online modules are one of the few ways to reach lakhs of teachers without taking them out of classrooms.

The choice of topics reflects problems that schools now face every day. Students and teachers use phones and laptops for learning, which brings risks such as weak passwords, scams and data leaks; a course on cyber hygiene gives teachers basic habits they can pass on. E-waste is a growing environmental problem in India, and schools are both users of electronics and places where children form habits. The water conservation module ties into the national "Catch the Rain" campaign, which encourages rainwater harvesting before and during the monsoon.

The action research course is the longest and arguably the most useful for teaching quality. Action research means a teacher spotting a problem in their own class, such as low reading levels, trying a change, and measuring whether it worked. It turns training into something teachers apply directly, rather than a certificate exercise.

The real test is outcomes. Online training is easy to complete without changing how one teaches. Schools and boards will need to check whether teachers use what they learn, and whether it shows up in students' learning.

Short-term: Teachers and school heads can enrol now and complete the modules at their own pace before the March 2027 deadline.

Long-term: If schools build these skills into practice, especially classroom-level action research, the programme can help improve teaching quality and digital safety in schools.

Who is affected: CBSE school teachers and principals, teachers in other schools who use DIKSHA, and the students they teach.

Questions and Answers