Every adult who works in a CBSE school, from the principal to the bus driver, is being asked to sit through the same half-hour video on Wednesday. The board wants all teaching and non-teaching staff to watch a 30-minute sensitisation module on inclusive education for Children with Special Needs (CwSN) on 7 October 2026.
The instruction comes in CBSE Circular No. TRG-20/2026 dated 5 October 2026, issued by the board's Training Unit and signed by Director (Training) Manoj K. Srivastava. It is addressed to the principals and heads of all CBSE-affiliated schools.
CBSE says it is acting on directions from the Department of School Education and Literacy in the Ministry of Education. The ministry has had the video made to build sensitivity, empathy and an inclusive attitude among people who deal with children every day, so that they understand the needs and difficulties of CwSN and respond in a respectful way.
Who has to watch, and where to find the video
The list of participants in the circular is wider than a usual teacher training notice. Apart from teachers and heads of school, it names aayahs, drivers, clerical staff, receptionists, deans, wardens and other support personnel. In a boarding school that means hostel staff too, and in a day school it includes the people at the gate and in the office.
The video sits on the ministry's PRASHAST portal at prashast.education.gov.in. Schools will not find it on the public landing page. According to the circular it will appear under the Video Tutorial option after the head of school logs in through the Headmaster Login.
Schools have been told to plan the screening so that every staff member can take part without disturbing essential school work. A large school may need two or three sittings on the day, for example one for the teaching staff during a free period and another for transport and support staff.
The board also notes that the number of schools viewing the module will be visible at the national level. In practice, a school that skips the screening will show up as a gap in the ministry's data.
Part of a screening drive for students
The video is not a stand-alone event. CBSE describes it as part of the PRASHAST Screening Initiative being run during the current academic year to screen students for probable disabilities and to help with timely intervention.
The reasoning in the circular is simple. If schools are going to identify children who may need support, the adults around those children should know what to look for and how to respond. Training the staff is listed as an important part of that effort, not an add-on.
For parents of a child with a learning disability, autism, a hearing or vision difficulty or a physical condition, this is a practical change. The person most likely to notice a problem on a bus ride or in a corridor is often not a teacher. Bringing drivers, attendants and wardens into the same training gives schools a common starting point.
Beyond CBSE schools
The circular has been copied to a long list of school systems with a request to pass it on to the schools under them. These include Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan, Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti, the Directorate of Education in Delhi, Eklavya Model Residential Schools, the Sainik Schools Society, the Army Welfare Education Society, the Atomic Energy Education Society and the Directorate of Naval Education.
School education departments in Chandigarh, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Ladakh and Andhra Pradesh are on the list, along with the Sambhota Tibetan Schools Society and the Odisha Adarsha Vidyalaya Sangathan. A copy has also gone to Deputy Secretary Ira Singhal of the Department of School Education and Literacy. CBSE regional offices have been asked to forward the circular to every affiliated school for compliance.
The board has sent several such instructions to schools in recent weeks. Earlier this month it asked schools to switch on digital fee payments, covered in CBSE's circular on UPI, RuPay and BBPS fee collection, and in September it pushed registrations for the Nasha Mukt Vidyalaya Abhiyan portal.
What schools should do before Wednesday
Heads of school should check today that their PRASHAST headmaster login works, since the video can only be reached through it. A login problem found on the morning of 7 October leaves little time to fix.
It also helps to draw up a staff list that includes contract and outsourced workers such as drivers, conductors and housekeeping staff, and to arrange a screen and sound in a room where they can watch together. Questions about the circular can go to the CBSE Training Unit at drtrgcbse@gmail.com or 011-24050812, the contacts printed on the notice.
