CBSE: The Central Board of Secondary Education

India’s largest school board started with a much smaller job: coordinating exams for a handful of northern and central regions. This lesson tells the story of the CBSE, how it grew by merging other boards, how it is run, and who leads it today.

1Chapter 1: From Regional Board to National Board

Must Know

The timeline

• 1929: a joint board, the “Board of High School and Intermediate Education, Rajputana”, is set up for Ajmer, Merwara, Central India and Gwalior.
• 1952: the Board’s constitution is amended. It takes its present name, the Central Board of Secondary Education, and its jurisdiction widens.
• 1 July 1962: the Board is reconstituted to serve students nationwide. The Delhi Board of Secondary Education merges into it.
• Today: over 28,000 affiliated schools in India and more than 240 abroad.

Growth by merger

• CBSE grew by absorbing other boards, not by starting large.
• Its national reach rests on a series of mergers, not one founding moment.
• Absorbing the Delhi Board in 1962 shows that national bodies often form by combining regional ones.

2Chapter 2: What CBSE Does

Must Know

Status and job

• CBSE is an autonomous body, but overall control rests with the Government of India through the Ministry of Education.
• Its core job is conducting the Class 10 and Class 12 board exams each year.
• It also affiliates schools and follows the NCERT curriculum, especially for Classes 9 to 12.
• Many Indian statutory bodies combine day-to-day independence with final government oversight. CBSE is one.

CBSE is not NCERT

• CBSE conducts exams and affiliates schools. It does not write textbooks.
• NCERT, set up in 1961, develops curriculum and publishes the textbooks CBSE schools use.

Exam names

• Class 10: AISSE, All India Secondary School Examination.
• Class 12: AISSCE, All India Senior School Certificate Examination.
• Read more: Education in India and National Education Policy 2020.

3Chapter 3: Leadership and Reach

Good to Know

Who runs it?

• The Chairperson is CBSE’s Chief Executive.
• The Secretary is its Chief Administrative Officer.
• The Controlling Authority is the Secretary (School Education and Literacy) in the Ministry of Education.
• Read more: LBSNAA, which trains the IAS officers who often lead CBSE.

Scale

• More than 28,000 schools in India are affiliated.
• Over 240 more schools, across 28 foreign countries, are also affiliated.
• Indian curriculum and exams now serve diaspora communities directly.
• Before becoming CBSE in 1952, the Board served just a handful of northern and central regions.
• Read more: Laws Protecting Children in Indian Schools and Constitutional Bodies: UPSC, State PSCs and the SC/ST Commissions.

4Chapter 4: In the News, June 2026

Current Affairs

A new Chairperson

• On 2 June 2026, Lokhande Prashant Sitaram became CBSE Chairperson.
• He succeeded Rahul Singh, who was transferred to the Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare as Additional Secretary.
• (Source: All India Radio.)
• Lokhande is a 2001-batch IAS officer of the AGMUT cadre (Arunachal Pradesh-Goa-Mizoram-Union Territories). He was earlier Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Home Affairs.
• (Source: Republic World.)
• Varun Bhardwaj was appointed CBSE’s new Secretary, taking over from Himanshu Gupta.
• Chairperson names are common “who’s who” questions in current affairs.
• Read more: Lokhande Prashant Sitaram: CBSE Chairperson 2026, and the AGMUT states Arunachal Pradesh, Goa and Mizoram.

Quick Q&A

• CBSE founded? 1929.
• Reconstituted? 1 July 1962.
• NCERT set up? 1961.
• Class 12 exam? AISSCE.
• Chairperson 2026? Lokhande Prashant Sitaram.