CBSE’s New Skill Mandate Explained: What Changes for Classes 6–8 And Parents' Concerns Around it

By Surabhi Gupta

New Delhi: The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has launched one of its most ambitious curriculum changes in years by making skill education compulsory for Classes 6 to 8 beginning this academic session. The initiative, which builds on the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, aims to move education away from memorisation and toward skills that are applicable to everyday life; however, while many view this change as being "progressive" in nature, and welcome it in principle.

However, there are many individuals that are worried about whether the current environment has the capacity to accommodate such a significant transformation in education, including the individuals involved in this transition, including educators, parents, and other educational site administrators.

The CBSE is coordinating the Skill Bolstering (Skill Bodh) program, which was developed in concert with NCERT, with the requirement that CBSE (Central Board of Secondary Education) institutions throughout India must implement this program. Every student will be required to undertake nine hands-on projects over the course of three years, three each year, covering 270 hours of structured skill-based learning. Schools will need to carve out roughly 110 hours annually, amounting to about 160 periods, and introduce dedicated two-period blocks each week to allow uninterrupted practical work.

The goal, CBSE says, is to give students the chance to “learn by doing,” and familiarise themselves with three broad skill areas: working with living beings, working with machines and materials, and human services. But on the ground, reactions are deeply mixed.

Infrastructure: The Biggest Bottleneck

Many school administrators from India are cautioning that the Skill Bodh initiative underestimates the challenges associated with inadequate physical infrastructure faced by the majority of institutions, particularly government schools and budget private schools that are financially constrained.

Kuriakose V K, Principal of St. Thomas School, says the directive assumes that schools have spare rooms or labs available to convert into skill spaces. “Schools like ours have already built rooms according to the land area we have and occupied all rooms with sufficient sections of each class. Neither more construction nor reduction of sections to make space for skill labs is practically possible,” he told ETV Bharat.

A government school teacher in rural Haryana echoed this concern, stressing the lack of even basic facilities. “We don’t have enough classrooms as it is. How are we supposed to suddenly create spaces for carpentry, design, or mechanical work?”

This worry is common across rural schools where science labs, libraries and even playgrounds are limited. For them, skill labs may remain an aspiration unless governments allocate fresh funding.

Awadhesh Kumar Jha, Principal of Sarvodaya Co-Ed Vidyalaya, encapsulates this tension between intent and readiness.

“While CBSE’s intent is progressive, the ground reality, especially in government and rural schools, is uneven. Many schools still lack basic lab infrastructure, updated tools, and consistently trained instructors needed for meaningful skill education. However, introducing the mandate can also act as a catalyst: once the policy becomes compulsory, states and schools are pushed to prioritise budgeting, training, and infrastructure. It may not be perfect at the start, but it can set a long-term foundation.”

Parents Divided Over Academic Load And Practical Value

Reactions from parents have been equally split. Many argue that the curriculum is already overloaded with new subjects such as coding, artificial intelligence, financial literacy, and design thinking. Adding mandatory skill work, they fear, will further increase stress among middle school students.

A Gurgaon parent, Nidhi, said, “My child already has a packed schedule. Now adding mandatory projects will only increase pressure. Why push so many new subjects at once?”

Others believe skills should be optional, not compulsory. Jignesh, a Pune-based parent, remarked that short-term exposure may not yield a meaningful impact.

“Skills learned in classes 6 to 8 won’t directly help in internships or jobs later. These should be optional, not forced on every child.”

Another common concern is the uneven playing field between private and government schools. Sushila, a parent from rural Rajasthan, raised the question many have been asking, “Private schools may somehow manage, but what about our local school, where even basic labs don’t exist?”

Yet, several parents see the policy as a necessary correction to an overly theoretical education system.

Anand, a Bengaluru parent, pointed out, “Early exposure to skills is good. Children must learn how things work in real life—not just study for exams.”

Principals Support Exposure, But Stress Need For Flexible Implementation

Many school heads agree that skill education has value, if implemented thoughtfully and with adequate time to build capacity.

Dr Bhavana Kulshrestha, Principal at Amity International School, told ETV Bharat that these courses are meant to be exploratory rather than job-oriented. “A 10–12 hour course won’t give a job, but it helps children explore and learn something new. Skills education is already being taught in many schools, including carpentry, tailoring, baking, AI, design thinking, and financial literacy. These are introductions.”

She believes early exposure can reduce confusion during career selection later. “If we don’t teach this now, the burden will be higher later when students leave school and face the real world.”

However, she insists that schools should retain the flexibility to select skill modules aligned with their capacity and community needs.

Awadhesh Kumar Jha also emphasises the developmental value of middle-school skill learning. “Introducing skills at the middle-school level may not directly create vocational readiness, but it plays a crucial developmental role. The long-term value lies in early exposure, not immediate employability.”

What Will Students Actually Do?

The Skill Bodh curriculum includes projects such as caring for plants or pets, maintaining gardens, doing basic carpentry, using simple tools, repairing common household items, helping in community services, and conducting small environmental or social tasks.

Schools have the freedom to choose the projects best suited to their environment. A rural school may pick agriculture-linked tasks; an urban one may prioritise mechanical or service-based activities.

This local contextualisation, experts say, is a strength of the program, though it demands careful planning.

Teachers Face Steep Learning Curve

One of the most significant challenges will be preparing educators to deliver the new course content, as practical skill courses must depend upon the instructor demonstrating, supervising, and evaluating the students' hands-on learning.

CBSE, NCERT and PSSIVE will conduct large-scale training sessions, but teachers say they will need time to adapt.

A Delhi teacher, Babita Pal, admitted, “We need training first. Many of us have never done carpentry or machine-handling. How can we teach it overnight?”

Teachers will also have to manage safety protocols, maintain equipment, and assess creative work, adding to their workload.

Timetable Restructuring Adds Pressure On Schools

CBSE has mandated that schools restructure timetables to accommodate two consecutive periods every week. While pedagogically essential, this requirement forces schools to compress an already crowded schedule filled with arts, sports, computational thinking, and NEP-mandated activities.

Many schools are struggling to find where these new 160 periods will fit.

New Assessment Model, But More Work For Teachers

Assessment will shift from traditional exams to a project-based, continuous evaluation approach:

• 10% written exam
• 30% viva/presentation
• 30% activity book
• 10% portfolio
• 20% teacher observation

Many teachers appreciate this shift, saying it rewards creativity and hands-on participation. But they also admit it means additional record-keeping and evaluation hours.

One teacher said, “This system is better than memorising answers, but it increases teachers’ workload significantly.”

At its core, CBSE’s reform reflects a national ambition: to blur the long-standing divide between “academic” and “vocational” learning, and raise a generation of students better equipped for life beyond exams. But, experts say the success of this revolutionary curriculum shift will depend not on its intentions, which few disagree with, but on execution, investment, and patience in the years ahead.