CBSE Skill Education has asked affiliated schools to push student participation in the National Cyber Awareness Grand Challenge 2026. Circular Skill-45/2026, dated 1 July 2026 and signed by Dr Biswajit Saha, Professor and Director (Skill Education), points to the Information Security Education and Awareness (ISEA) Project of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.
The Challenge is framed as a national platform for students to build awareness campaigns, digital content, posters, videos, presentations and other communication materials on cyber safety. CBSE says the contest aims to nurture responsible digital citizenship while building design thinking, problem-solving and communication skills.
Where schools register and what to circulate
Registration details, guidelines and other information are hosted at https://www.staysafeonline.in/cgc. English and Hindi brochures are enclosed with the circular for ready circulation, and schools are requested to disseminate the initiative widely and encourage maximum participation.
What the brochure asks for
The enclosed brochure describes the contest as a video challenge. Individuals or groups make enacted cyber awareness videos in any of the 22 officially recognised Indian languages, and the videos are expected to reflect local culture and heritage as well as the safety message.
Entrants pick one target group: senior citizens, women, or children and students. Suggested themes for older users include phishing, KYC and fake electricity bill frauds, digital arrest scams and the risk of sharing OTPs and UPI PINs. For women, the list includes cyber stalking, identity theft, image-based abuse, deepfake blackmail and voice cloning. For children and students, it names cyberbullying, online gaming fraud, exposure to inappropriate content, social media and gaming addiction, and online predators and grooming. The brochure adds that other topics tied to emerging cyber threats may also be taken up.
Timeline and prizes
The brochure sets four stages: a concept or storyboard stage in English or Hindi, production and submission of final videos by shortlisted entrants, evaluation by an expert jury, and announcement of national and language-level winners. An expert jury picks the best concepts, and only those entrants go on to make final videos. Its dates are 5 June 2026 for the launch, 15 July for concepts, 5 August for the shortlist, 5 September for final videos and 29 September for results. By the brochure's own calendar, the entry stages for 2026 have closed and the results are due on 29 September.
National prizes are Rs 2,00,000, Rs 1,50,000 and Rs 1,00,000 for the first three places. A consolation prize of Rs 10,000 is set aside for one entry in each of the 22 languages, a total of Rs 2,20,000. All participants are to receive a participation certificate. The brochure lists isea@cdac.in and 73820 06236 as contacts.
Who has been told
Copies of the circular go to Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan, Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti, the Delhi Directorate of Education, Sainik Schools Society, Eklavya Model Residential Schools, the Army and Navy education societies, Odisha Adarsha Vidyalaya Sangathan, the Central Tibetan School Administration, state and union territory education directors and CBSE regional offices, with a request to pass it to all schools under them. Schools whose students entered can follow the results on staysafeonline.in/cgc.
The full details are in the CBSE circular Skill-45/2026.
