Mumbai: School education in India rarely changes all at once. Yet through 2025, a series of reforms that had moved gradually through policy pipelines began appearing simultaneously in classrooms, examination systems, and administrative frameworks. Structural reorganisation, shifts in assessment patterns, and the expanding role of technology unfolded in parallel across school boards and states. The year stood out less for a single headline reform than for the cumulative effect of multiple transitions — structural, technological, and administrative.New structure for schoolingMaharashtra, the first state in the country to adopt the Kothari Commission’s 1966 recommendation of a 10+2+3 education structure, conducted its first Class 10 board examination in 1975. Five decades later, school education across each educational board in India has undergone another major structural reset. By Sept 2025, most CBSE, state, and private schools began transitioning to the 5+3+3+4 stage structure, reorganising schooling into four phases — Foundational (ages 3–8), Preparatory (8–11), Middle (11–14), and Secondary (14–18) — formally replacing the long-standing 10+2 system.“The transition has been quite smooth. This classification is actually better because it includes pre-primary education into the formal educational setup, allowing us to build the foundational stage from nursery to the second standard together for the first time,” said Hari Vishwanath, principal of Delhi Public School (DPS), Nerul.Two board examsIn July, the CBSE announced that Class 10 students would be allowed to appear for two board examinations to seek improvement in up to three subjects — chosen from science, mathematics, social science, and languages. While the first exam remains mandatory, students may reappear for three papers to improve their scores. The board notification said the move aims to “reduce the high-stakes nature of board examinations and the coaching culture,” adding that modular models for conducting board exams could be explored in the future.However, as the first exams under the new system are yet to be held, teachers and academicians have questioned its practical impact, pointing out that the roughly two-month gap between the two windows may be insufficient for meaningful improvement. “It’s old wine in a new bottle,” said the principal of a CBSE school in Madhya Pradesh. “There used to be two sets of exams before also; children who used to fail could reappear. Now only the ‘compartment’ or repeater tag has been removed.” Different state boards though still continue to have a single board exam.Beyond rote learningThe shift away from rote memorisation toward competency and conceptual understanding is being phased in at many different levels across education boards, with CBSE’s revised examination pattern serving as one of the clearest illustrations. Up to 80% of the Class 10 board paper will now be competency-driven, with marks allocated to questions testing analysis, application, and conceptual clarity rather than factual recall. Similar reforms are underway across state boards, alongside the rollout of competency-based and reduced-content curricula for Classes 7, 9, and 11. This shift in methodology is also visible in state boards, at a gradual pace.“Questions from the end of every chapter have disappeared in the textbooks. Now we have to emphasise the concepts and work on the understanding a child develops,” said Latha Janardhan, head teacher of the Anthony D’Souza School, in Byculla Mumbai.School meets skill economyThe push toward vocational and skill-based education gained momentum in 2025 across all boards, with mandatory exposure introduced from Class 6 in CBSE schools and a sharper focus on employability-linked learning in senior classes. Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan announced at IIT Madras that skill-based subjects would be introduced at the Class 11 and 12 levels.Schools are expanding structured skill programmes across all boards and mediums “We have introduced learning modules in areas such as communication, coding, robotics, and financial literacy,” said Sonal Mittal, principal of EuroSchool, Bengaluru. Parveen Cassad, senior principal of Centre Point School, Nagpur, explained the rationale: employers and universities now expect students to be adaptable and capable beyond textbooks, as rapid changes in technology and the job market demand transferable skills.Testing the teachersA Supreme Court ruling on Sept 1, 2025, brought the Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) into focus, invoking Article 142 to declare the exam a constitutional requirement linked to the right to quality education under Article 21A. The verdict placed an estimated 20–30 lakh teachers in the public sector under a two-year deadline, mandating that those with more than five years of service remaining clear the TET with at least 60% marks by Sept 2027, failing which they could face compulsory retirement or termination.The decision triggered protests across several states, particularly among veteran teachers, who termed the move unfair and disruptive. Madhav Suryavanshi of the Shikshan Vikas Manch noted that the TET’s historical pass rate of just 3–4% raises fears of widespread job losses and heightened insecurity within an already understaffed public education system. He argued that a differentiated or moderated difficulty level for teachers with 15–20 years of service could have ensured quality benchmarks without destabilising schools.Other reformsAmong other key reforms in 2025, artificial intelligence and computational thinking will be introduced into the curriculum from Class 3 onwards. Schools began rolling out holistic progress cards that assess skills, attitudes, and co-curricular development alongside academic performance. The year also saw the establishment of PARAKH, a national body to standardise assessments and monitor learning outcomes, alongside the continued expansion of digital learning platforms such as DIKSHA and PM e-VIDYA to support blended and remote education.ChallengesDespite these reforms, significant challenges remain. The Annual Status of Education Report by NGO Pratham found that only 23.4% of Class 3 students in government schools could read a Class 2-level text, highlighting persistent learning gaps. A report by the Centre for Teacher Accreditation pointed to a shortage of qualified teachers, particularly in rural areas, and insufficient training in NEP-aligned pedagogy. Additionally, the uneven rollout of the NEP across states — due to policy differences, teacher resistance, and the need to adapt content to regional languages — continues to slow the pace of reform.
