West Bengal Teachers Asked to Complete Mandatory 50-Hour Annual NISHTHA Training

PTI, July 29, 2026, Kolkata: The Paschim Banga Samagra Shiksha Mission (PBSSM) has directed district education authorities to ensure that all heads of institutions and assistant teachers in government-run schools complete the mandatory 50-hour annual Continuous Professional Development (CPD) training through the Centre's NISHTHA courses on the DIKSHA platform in line with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.

The State Project Director of PBSSM asked district education officers and district inspectors of schools to communicate the directive to schools under their jurisdiction and ensure compliance with the annual CPD requirement.

According to the directive, the NISHTHA (National Initiative for School Heads' and Teachers' Holistic Advancement) modules available on the DIKSHA platform will serve as the primary mode of self-paced learning.

The courses are intended to help teachers improve classroom practices, adopt activity-based learning, strengthen classroom teaching and enhance student learning outcomes.

District authorities have also been asked to direct sub-inspectors of schools and assistant inspectors at the block level to monitor teachers' registration and progress on the platform and provide the necessary support to ensure timely completion of the modules.

The memorandum added that a large number of teachers had already registered for the training but stressed the need for administrative support to achieve full coverage so that no eligible teacher is left out.

Teachers, however, questioned the move, saying the training content is available only in Hindi and English.

Kinkar Adhikari, general secretary of Shikshanuragi Aikya Mancha, said, "Why are the training videos available only in Hindi and English? If teachers are appointed to teach in a particular medium, the training should also be available in that language. We have demanded that the modules be made available in regional languages, including Bengali."