Principal & Vice-PrincipalCombined Recruitment Test 2026

The notification puts contemporary first, and the papers bore that out: current portals, schemes, appointments and one-line policy facts rather than deep history. Cap your time here — it is the lowest return per hour on the paper.

Current affairs, last 12–18 months

• Education current affairs, treated as compulsory: NEP implementation milestones, NCF-SE rollout, PARAKH outputs, NAS and ASER findings, UDISE+ releases, PM-SHRI progress, CBSE circulars and exam-scheme changes, the two-board-exam policy, APAAR and ABC
• New or restructured government portals and schemes
• Union Budget and Economic Survey headlines, with the education allocation
• Awards and honours: Bharat Ratna, Padma, Jnanpith, Nobel, Sahitya Akademi; UNESCO education prizes
• Observed days and their themes — World Teachers' Day was asked directly
• Summits and groupings India hosted or joined

Contemporary social issues

• Education-linked: dropout and retention, gender gap, child labour, first-generation learners, migrant children, the digital divide
• Health and nutrition: malnutrition, anaemia, adolescent health, mental health in schools, POSHAN Abhiyaan
• Social justice: reservation policy, SC/ST/OBC/EWS, PwBD rights, the Transgender Persons Act 2019, women's reservation
• Environment and society: climate commitments, air quality and GRAP, waste management, Mission LiFE

Economy, applied

• Sectors of the economy and their contribution to GDP and employment — asked directly
• Minimum Support Price and which categories of produce it covers — asked directly
• Cryptocurrency regulation and the Digital Rupee — asked directly
• Indicators: GDP, inflation, fiscal deficit, HDI, SDG India Index
• Public expenditure on education and the 6% of GDP target

Polity, core only

• Preamble, salient features, sources of the Constitution
• Fundamental Rights with an education focus: Articles 14, 15, 16, 19, 21, 21A, 28, 29–30 on minority educational institutions, 32
• DPSP and Fundamental Duties: Articles 45, 46, 51A(k)
• Constitutional offices and how they are filled — the Attorney General under Article 76 and the Solicitor General were both asked; the Vice-President's election and the President's resignation were asked
• Union Territories: how many, which have Legislative Assemblies, Lok Sabha representation — asked directly
• Parliamentary procedure: admissibility of a Question in the Lok Sabha was asked
• Constitutional and statutory bodies: EC, UPSC, CAG, Finance Commission, NHRC, NCPCR, SCPCR, DCPCR, CIC, CVC
• Key amendments: 42nd, 44th, 73rd, 74th, 86th, 101st, 103rd
• Article 239AA and the special position of Delhi

History — awareness level only

• History of education in India, the part that pays: Macaulay's Minute 1835, Wood's Despatch 1854, Hunter Commission 1882, Sadler Commission 1917, Hartog Committee 1929, Wardha Scheme 1937, Sargent Plan 1944
• Ancient centres of learning — Nalanda, Vikramshila, Takshashila, Valabhi — and which lie outside modern India
• Everything else at dynasty-and-date recognition level

Geography, environment, culture, science

• National parks and conservation projects; Project Cheetah at Kuno; Ramsar sites
• Distinctive landscapes and what each is known for
• Art and culture at identification level: classical dances and their states, festivals and their states, crafts and textiles, musical instruments and their materials
• Science and technology in the news: ISRO missions, health, AI, semiconductors

Both languages carry roughly equal weight and neither is optional. For a bilingual paper attached to a Delhi government post the Hindi section is serious, and it is where prepared candidates quietly gain ten to fifteen marks on the field.

General English

• Spotting errors — three questions in the Principal paper alone. Subject–verb agreement, "one of the" constructions, tense consistency, parallelism
• Idioms and phrases — three questions, in both meaning-selection and matching formats
• Reading comprehension — fact-based, inference-based, and word-meaning-in-context
• Determiners and quantifiers: little / a little, few / a few — asked directly
• Active and passive voice, including judging whether a given transformation is correct
• Direct and indirect speech
• Counting the number of errors in a passage
• One-word substitutions, synonyms and antonyms, spelling, sentence improvement, cloze, para-jumbles
• Prepositions, phrasal verbs, articles, degrees of comparison, conjunctions and connectors

सामान्य हिंदी

• अपठित गद्यांश — 2022 में चाणक्य-विषयक तथा NEP-आधारित गद्यांश आए
• संधि एवं संधि-विच्छेद — स्वर संधि (दीर्घ, गुण, वृद्धि, यण, अयादि), व्यंजन संधि, विसर्ग संधि
• मुहावरे एवं लोकोक्तियाँ — अर्थ एवं मिलान, दोनों प्रारूपों में
• विलोम, पर्यायवाची, अनेकार्थी, युग्म शब्द
• कारक एवं विभक्ति; समास; उपसर्ग एवं प्रत्यय
• वाक्य-शुद्धि एवं वर्तनी शोधन; लिंग, वचन, काल, वाच्य
• तत्सम–तद्भव; वाक्यांश के लिए एक शब्द
• अलंकार एवं रस — पहचान स्तर पर

राजभाषा — small, closed, routinely skipped

• राजभाषा अधिनियम 1963 एवं नियम 1976; अनुच्छेद 343–351
• क्षेत्र 'क', 'ख', 'ग' का वर्गीकरण — दिल्ली क्षेत्र 'क' में है
• पुस्तकालय हेतु पुस्तक-क्रय बजट में हिंदी पुस्तकों का निर्धारित प्रतिशत — सीधा पूछा गया
• सरकारी पत्राचार के प्रारूप एवं प्रशासनिक शब्दावली

Class-ten mathematics in a school-administration costume. Almost every 2022 question was set in a school: marks, sections, attendance, invigilators, fees, teaching experience. Practise in that framing and the arithmetic stops feeling abstract.

Arithmetic — the core

• Averages and weighted averages, including what happens to two group averages when students transfer between sections — asked twice
• Percentages, successive change, and fee-hike revenue problems across class bands — asked directly
• Marks conversion between scales, and its effect on class average — asked directly
• Net score under negative marking (+3 correct, −1 wrong, −0.5 unattempted) — asked directly
• Ratio and proportion; mixtures and alligation
• Product costing and unit economics from a price table — asked directly
• Time and work; pipes and cisterns, including three pumps working together
• Time, speed and distance; ages and experience problems across two reference years
• Simple and compound interest; profit, loss and discount
• Number system: divisibility, digit-sum and digit-product conditions, HCF and LCM

Geometry, counting and probability

• Circles: intersecting circles, central and inscribed angles, chords, tangents — the Principal paper asked for an angle between two identical intersecting circles
• Triangles, congruence and similarity, Pythagoras; angles on parallel lines
• Mensuration, 2D and 3D
• Permutations for seating and duty rosters: students across rows of chairs, invigilator assignment where a section's own teacher cannot invigilate
• Basic probability and set-based counting

Reasoning

• Number and letter series, including missing-term and reverse-logic formats
• Operator substitution — the set + − × ÷ ~ redefined as inequalities, then conclusions drawn
• Blood relations and family trees; ranking and position in a row; height and order comparison
• Venn diagrams for overlapping categories; syllogism
• Categorical logic on statements of the "every X is Y, but every X is not Z" type
• Word and number analogy; classification
• Data sufficiency — the standard four-option format
• Statement–conclusion, statement–assumption, "which of the following can be concluded"
• Direction sense; clocks and calendars; coding–decoding

Data interpretation

• Tables, bar and line graphs, pie charts, caselets
• Education-context data: enrolment, GER and NER, dropout rates, pupil–teacher ratio, result analysis, budget tables

Over half of the 2022 papers. It splits cleanly in two, and both halves are closed syllabi you can master to certainty — one from bare Acts and policy documents, the other from a standard body of psychometrics that does not change.

A · Measurement and evaluation — concepts

• Measurement, assessment, evaluation and testing distinguished
• Types by purpose: placement, diagnostic, formative, summative — and identifying which from a described classroom situation, which is how it was asked
• Norm-referenced versus criterion-referenced; objective versus subjective; group versus individual testing
• Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation — definition and rationale
• Components of evaluation: qualitative description, quantitative description, value judgement
• Principles of achievement testing; competency-based assessment; Holistic Progress Card; portfolio, rubric, peer and self-assessment

A · Taxonomy of objectives

• Bloom's cognitive domain and the highest level of learning within it
• Affective domain: receiving, responding, valuing, organisation, characterisation — and sorting a mixed list into the right domain, which was asked in both papers
• Psychomotor domain; revised Bloom (Anderson & Krathwohl); RCEM taxonomy
• Writing instructional objectives; identifying which statement does not belong to a given domain

A · Test construction and item analysis

• Table of specifications and why it improves content sampling
• Item types and item-writing rules
• Difficulty index (P) and discrimination index (D): computing both from an upper-27% / lower-27% response table, the relationship between them, why P near 0.50 maximises the discrimination range, and what P of 0 or 1 implies
• Where an item of a given difficulty should sit in a test
• Standardisation, norms, marking scheme, moderation

A · Validity and reliability

• Validity: content, construct, criterion, predictive — and which applies to selection for a post
• Reliability: test–retest, parallel forms, split-half, KR-20
• Spearman-Brown prophecy formula in both directions — reliability when length is doubled, and length required to reach a target reliability. Both were asked
• Interpreting a reliability coefficient numerically
• Factors affecting reliability: group heterogeneity, test length, difficulty extremes
• Why a reliable test may not be valid, and why a valid test must be reliable
• Standard error of measurement; objectivity; usability

A · Statistics — computational

• Scales of measurement: nominal, ordinal, interval, ratio; which permits which statistic; matching instances to scales
• Central tendency: arithmetic, harmonic and geometric mean, median, mode; when each is preferred; median for skewed and ordinal data; mode for nominal data
• Variability: range, quartile deviation, standard deviation computed from a small data set, variance; comparing variability across groups from their SDs
• Effect of adding a constant to every score on the median and on the SD
• Normal probability curve: properties, ±1σ = 68.26%, ±2σ = 95.44%, ±3σ = 99.74%; applying it to a given mean and SD
• Skewness: where mean, median and mode fall in positive and negative skew; kurtosis
• Standard scores: z-score computation and properties, T-score, stanine, percentile rank
• Correlation: Pearson and Spearman rank-order; interpretation
• Why IQ is not a ratio scale
• Graphical representation: histogram, frequency polygon, ogive

A · Research methodology

• Parametric versus non-parametric: t-test, chi-square, sign test, median test; and the assumptions — normality, homogeneity, randomisation, continuity
• Sampling: random, stratified, systematic, cluster as probability methods; purposive, quota, convenience as non-probability. Purposive is the standard trap
• Qualitative approaches: post-positivist, critical, interpretive, causal-comparative
• Tools: in-depth interviews and the listening stances appropriate to them, observation, rating scales, sociometric techniques and where students actually use them, projective techniques and which tests are not projective
• Thurstone equal-appearing intervals and what it measures
• Action research; hypothesis, Type I and Type II error, level of significance
• Methods of establishing probability: empirical, mathematical, intuitive

A · Large-scale assessment

• PARAKH — mandate and functions
• National Achievement Survey; Performance Grading Index; UDISE+ indicators
• ASER; PISA and India's participation
• CBSE assessment scheme: internal assessment components, grading, examination bye-laws, competency-based item share

B · Right to Education Act 2009 and Rules 2010 — the heaviest statute

Twelve questions in the Principal paper alone. Read the bare Act; the questions are clause-level.

• Article 21A and the 86th Amendment; free and compulsory education for ages 6 to 14
• Schedule norms: all-weather building, separate toilets for boys and girls, barrier-free access, kitchen for the mid-day meal; PTR; working days and instructional hours
• Teacher's minimum 45 working hours per week, including preparation hours
• Vacancies not to exceed 10% of sanctioned strength
• Re-examination after failing at the end of Class 8, within two months of the declaration of result
• School Management Committee: composition, the three-fourths parent requirement, at least 50% women, proportionate representation of disadvantaged groups — and which functions are not the SMC's
• School Development Plan; curriculum and evaluation considerations laid down in the Act
• Duties of the appropriate Government; duties of parents; proof of age; prohibition of private tuition; right to transfer
• Concurrent responsibility of Centre and State for funding
• State Advisory Council under the 2010 Rules and who chairs it ex-officio
• Block Level Grievance Redressal Committee and its 30-day timeline
• §12(1)(c) EWS and disadvantaged-group admission; §17 prohibition of physical punishment and mental harassment; §27 no non-educational deployment of teachers

B · National Education Policy 2020

• 5+3+3+4 structure — and specifically what the first five years consist of: three years of Anganwadi or pre-school plus Grades 1–2
• ECCE: which ministries jointly plan and implement it, and which body develops the curricular and pedagogical framework
• Foundational Literacy and Numeracy and the target year
• Bagless days and the fun course — and at which stage
• PARAKH, NRF, SSSA, ABC, NETF — what each is for, and the exact coverage of SSSA across school types and stages
• School complexes within a 5–10 km radius — precisely what a complex consists of, including whether Anganwadi is inside or outside it
• Gender Inclusion Fund — and exactly who it is meant for
• Pupil–teacher ratio target for areas with large numbers of socio-economically disadvantaged students
• 6% of GDP — and that it is to come from Centre and States together
• Guiding principles for implementation, and which principle is not among them
• Teacher education by 2030; 4-year ITEP; 50 hours of CPD; NPST
• Language: medium of instruction, three-language formula, foreign languages at secondary level
• Adult education curriculum framework and its components
• SEDGs; Special Education Zones; holistic and multidisciplinary education and what it aims at

B · Frameworks, commissions and earlier policies

• NCF 2005 — prepared by the National Steering Committee together with twenty-one National Focus Groups
• NCF-FS 2022 and NCF-SE 2023; NCERT Learning Outcomes
• NPE 1986 and Operation Blackboard — what the drive actually provided, which is essential facilities to primary schools
• Kothari Commission 1964–66; Mudaliar; Radhakrishnan; NPE 1968; POA 1992; Yashpal Committee
• Samagra Shiksha: components and funding pattern

B · Schemes and institutions

• PM POSHAN: objectives and coverage by class, and the foodgrain norms per child per school day for primary and upper primary
• School Nutrition Gardens: what they are and what they are meant to address
• PM-SHRI: which schools qualify, blocks covered, performance tracking
• Sainik Schools: joint venture, governing ministry, admission of girl cadets
• KGBV: which groups, and the reservation for girls below the poverty line
• EMRS: which students they are meant for
• National Scheme of Incentive to Girls for Secondary Education: who is covered
• DIKSHA and NISHTHA — what each actually is; the two are routinely confused
• SWAYAM and its National Coordinator for engineering courses; SWAYAM Prabha
• NIOS Virtual Open School and its launch partners
• Convergence: using MGNREGS for school compound walls and ground levelling
• Vidyanjali; NIPUN Bharat; Vidya Pravesh; PM e-VIDYA

B · Child protection, rights and school safety

• POCSO Act 2012: child means below 18; offences; mandatory reporting and the penalty for failing to report
• CPCR Act 2005: NCPCR's powers of a civil court while enquiring into complaints under §14(1); the section under which a State may constitute an authority where no SCPCR exists; NCPCR, SCPCR and DCPCR
• POSH Act 2013: Internal Complaints Committee composition — presiding officer, employee members, external member, and the proportion of women; penalties and the minimum imprisonment prescribed
• UN Convention on the Rights of the Child: definition of a child, freedom of thought and religion, right to privacy
• Juvenile Justice Act 2015: presumption of innocence, non-waiver of the child's rights, treatment of past records
• School Safety Policy 2016 and NDMA guidelines: sources of hazard in a school, responsibilities of the school administration and which responsibilities belong elsewhere, School Disaster Management Plan
• NSSP: composition of the School Disaster Management Committee, including the number of student members
• School Safety Focal Point Teacher — who designates the FPT
• Flag Code of India 2002: the assembly formation for hoisting in a school and where the Headmaster stands
• RPwD Act 2016 and inclusive education duties

In 2022 this head was tested as bare-rule recall — GFR procurement and CCS service rules — rather than as management theory. That makes it far more tractable than most material suggests, and it rewards reading the rules directly rather than a summary of them.

General Financial Rules 2017 — procurement

• Purchase up to ₹25,000 on each occasion without quotations, on a recorded certificate — and precisely what that certificate certifies: quality of the goods, reliability of the supplier, reasonability of the price
• Purchase Committee for the band above ₹25,000; tender above ₹2.5 lakh
• Limited Tender Enquiry as a general rule up to ₹25 lakh; the minimum number of supplier firms; bids invited from registered suppliers
• Advertised tender enquiry above ₹25 lakh; single tender enquiry; e-procurement
• Government e-Marketplace: what GeM SPV certifies (credentials of suppliers) versus what the procuring authority certifies (reasonability of rates); the definition of "goods" on GeM, including whether software, technology transfer, incidental transportation and transport services fall inside it
• Earnest Money Deposit on GeM e-bids above the threshold: who is exempt, and the validity period relative to bid validity
• Performance security: valid beyond the date of completion of all contractual obligations including warranty, for 60 days
• Price variation clause: permitted only in long-term contracts where the delivery period extends beyond the prescribed number of months
• Capital versus revenue expenditure: first construction, additions that enhance the useful life of an asset, restoration after extraordinary calamity creating new assets — and which item is not capital
• Canons of financial propriety; rate contracts; stores, physical verification, condemnation and disposal; grants-in-aid and utilisation certificates

CCS (Leave) Rules 1972

• Encashment on retirement — the 300-day ceiling and how earned leave and half pay leave combine towards it
• Powers of the competent authority: it may refuse or revoke leave of any kind, but may not on its own alter the kind of leave due and applied for
• Casual leave: whether it is a recognised form of leave, whether an official on CL is treated as absent from duty, and what it may and may not be combined with
• Earned leave, half pay leave, commuted leave, leave not due, extraordinary leave
• Maternity, paternity, child care and child adoption leave; study leave
• Reduced earned-leave accrual for staff of vacation departments — which is what school staff are

CCS (CCA) Rules 1965 and Conduct Rules 1964

• Minor and major penalties — and that suspension is not a penalty
• Disciplinary authority, inquiry procedure, appeal and review
• Activities not requiring previous sanction: honorary work of a social or charitable character, participation in sports as an amateur, occasional work of an artistic character — and that a privately produced media programme does require sanction
• Lien: when a government servant does and does not retain lien on a post — extraordinary leave, suspension, foreign service, and immediate absorption elsewhere
• Property returns, gifts, private trade, connection with the press, prohibition of sexual harassment

Financial administration beyond GFR

• Chief Accounting Authority in a Central Government Ministry — asked directly
• Budget cycle; Consolidated Fund, Contingency Fund, Public Account; re-appropriation and surrender; CAG and audit paras
• Delegation of Financial Powers Rules; DDO duties and personal responsibility
• School funds: sources, permissible use, cash book, physical verification of cash
• NPS: which ministry administers it, applicability to new recruits, and the annuitisation requirement on superannuation — asked directly
• Prevention of Corruption Act 1988: bribery of a public servant and the maximum imprisonment — asked directly
• TA/DA, LTC, medical reimbursement, pension processing, PFMS

School management in practice

Within the head's wording and the Commission's own description of the duties, though not tested in 2022. Keep it light: school records and registers, timetable construction, admission and transfer certificates, stock and asset registers, staff appraisal and APAR, inspection and academic supervision, PTA and SMC meetings, examination management, crisis and emergency response.

The smallest head on the paper and the one most often left to chance. The underlying text is the Central Secretariat Manual of Office Procedure, and the whole thing can be closed out in a few sittings.

Forms of official communication

• Office Order — instructions and intimations in routine internal administrative matters such as grant of regular leave, internal posting and transfers. This was the exact question
• Order, Office Memorandum, Notification, Circular, letter, demi-official letter, un-official note, endorsement, press communiqué — and the situations that distinguish them

Files and records

• Conventional file numbering: subject code, serial number of the file, year of opening, sub-head — and which of these the number does and does not contain
• Parts of a file; noting and drafting; referencing and flagging; movement of files
• Retention period of service books of officials entitled to retirement or terminal benefits where the final pension or gratuity payment order has been issued
• Record retention schedule; classification of records; security grading; weeding and destruction
• Dak receipt and diarising; periodical reports and returns; e-Office and eFile

Right to Information Act 2005

• Definitions: what "information" includes — samples, models, data held in electronic form; what "record" includes — reproduction of images embodied in microfilm; and whether the right extends to inspection of work, documents and records
• Timelines: 30 days ordinarily; 48 hours where life or liberty is concerned; first appeal within 30 days of the CPIO's decision; second appeal to the Information Commission
• What a CPIO must communicate on rejection: the reasons, the period within which an appeal may be preferred, and the particulars of the Appellate Authority
• §8 exemptions, including information whose disclosure would prejudicially affect the scientific or economic interests of the State, and information held in a fiduciary relationship unless larger public interest warrants disclosure
• Cases where there is no obligation to supply information — including where disclosure would constitute contempt of court
• §4 proactive disclosure; CPIO, APIO and First Appellate Authority; penalties

Grievances and official language

• CPGRAMS exclusions: personal and family disputes, sub-judice matters, RTI matters, suggestions
• Escalation, timelines and appeal within CPGRAMS; citizen's charter
• The prescribed percentage of the library book-purchase budget to be spent on Hindi books — asked directly
• Official Languages Act and Rules; region classification; bilingual documents

Learning and its theories

• Nature of learning; factors affecting it; the learning curve
• Behaviourism: Pavlov; Thorndike's laws of readiness, exercise and effect; Skinner's operant conditioning, reinforcement schedules and programmed learning
• Cognitive: Köhler's insight learning; Ausubel's meaningful reception learning and advance organisers; Gagné's hierarchy and nine events of instruction; information processing
• Constructivism: Piaget and Vygotsky; discovery and inquiry learning; Kolb's experiential cycle
• Bandura's social learning and modelling
• Transfer of learning; memory and forgetting; attention and perception; metacognition

Development of the learner

• Piaget: schema, assimilation, accommodation; the four stages; conservation and egocentrism; classroom implications
• Vygotsky: social constructivism, the Zone of Proximal Development, scaffolding, the role of language
• Bruner: modes of representation, spiral curriculum
• Erikson's psychosocial stages; Kohlberg's moral development
• Adolescence: physical and emotional change, peer influence, identity, risk behaviour

Motivation and individual differences

• Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation; Maslow; achievement motivation; attribution; self-efficacy; growth and fixed mindset
• Intelligence: Spearman, Thurstone, Guilford, Cattell, Gardner's multiple intelligences, Sternberg, Goleman's emotional intelligence
• Creativity and divergent thinking; aptitude, interest, attitude, personality
• Gifted learners, slow learners, underachievers — identification and response

Teaching methods and skills

• Levels and phases of teaching: pre-active, interactive, post-active
• Maxims of teaching: known to unknown, simple to complex, concrete to abstract, particular to general, whole to part
• Methods: lecture, demonstration, discussion, heuristic, project, problem-solving, inductive–deductive, laboratory, programmed instruction, brainstorming, role play, case study, storytelling, field visits
• Cooperative and collaborative learning; peer tutoring; flipped and blended classrooms
• Art-integrated, sports-integrated, toy-based and experiential pedagogy as NEP prescribes; bagless days; multilingual teaching
• Micro-teaching and the core teaching skills; simulated and team teaching
• Joyce and Weil's models of teaching and their four families
• Questioning technique; wait time; higher-order questioning
• Lesson and unit planning: Herbartian steps, behavioural objectives, the 5E model; teaching-learning material
• Diagnostic and remedial teaching; enrichment
• Classroom management, positive discipline, and the prohibition of corporal punishment

Curriculum

• Curriculum, syllabus and course of study distinguished; types including hidden and spiral curriculum
• Principles and bases of curriculum construction; transaction; evaluation and renewal
• NCF 2005, NCF-FS 2022, NCF-SE 2023; curricular goals and competencies
• Competency-based education and NCERT Learning Outcomes
• Vocational education from Grade 6; life skills; values and health education

Inclusive education

• Integration, mainstreaming and inclusion; the philosophy behind each
• RPwD Act 2016: the twenty-one disabilities, benchmark disability, and the duties of educational institutions
• Specific learning disabilities — dyslexia, dysgraphia, dyscalculia; ADHD; autism spectrum; sensory impairments
• Individualised Education Plan; resource rooms; special educators; examination concessions such as scribe and compensatory time
• Universal Design for Learning; barrier-free schools; assistive technology
• Education of SEDGs; gender-inclusive curriculum

Guidance, counselling and the teaching profession

• Guidance and counselling distinguished; educational, vocational and personal-social guidance; directive, non-directive and eclectic approaches
• Adolescent concerns: examination stress, peer pressure, substance abuse, cyber-safety; Manodarpan; school wellness teams; referral pathways
• Cumulative record card and its use
• Teacher education: B.Ed., the 4-year ITEP, NCTE, TET; NPST
• NISHTHA; 50 hours of CPD; National Mission for Mentoring; School Complexes as academic support
• Action research by teachers and heads of school; the reflective practitioner

Also new in 2026, and the most tractable head on the entire paper. Everything here is finite and factual. If you are going to guarantee marks anywhere, guarantee them here.

Computer and operating system basics

• Hardware: CPU, memory types, storage, input and output devices; units from bit to terabyte
• Software: system versus application; open source versus proprietary
• Windows, Linux, Android; file and folder management; common file extensions; compression
• Software installation, backup and restore; keyboard shortcuts

Office applications, in school use

• Word: formatting, tables, headers and footers, page setup, table of contents, mail merge for certificates and letters to parents, track changes and comments, export to PDF
• Excel: cell references including absolute and relative, SUM, AVERAGE, COUNTIF, SUMIF, IF, VLOOKUP, sorting, filtering, conditional formatting, pivot tables, charts — applied to attendance registers, result analysis, grade computation and stock
• PowerPoint: layouts, Slide Master, animation versus transition, multimedia, presenter view, handouts

Internet, networking and communication

• Protocols, URL structure, domains including .gov.in and .nic.in, IP addresses, browsers, search technique and source credibility
• LAN, WAN, topologies; modem, router, switch, hub; Wi-Fi; cloud computing and its service models
• Email: CC and BCC, attachments, spam, filters, professional email writing
• Video conferencing and collaboration tools; Google Forms for feedback and online tests

Cybersecurity and law

• Viruses, worms, trojans, ransomware, keyloggers; phishing, vishing, smishing, social engineering, identity theft
• Strong passwords, two-factor authentication, OTP safety, firewalls, antivirus, encryption, VPN, patching, backup discipline
• Reporting: CERT-In, cybercrime.gov.in, the national cybercrime helpline
• IT Act 2000: §43, §66, §66C identity theft, §66D cheating by personation, §66E privacy, §67 series
• DPDP Act 2023: consent, data fiduciary and data principal, and the special protections for children's data — verifiable parental consent, no behavioural tracking or targeted advertising directed at children. Directly relevant to a school holding student records

Digital education and administration

• DIKSHA, SWAYAM and SWAYAM Prabha, PM e-VIDYA, ePathshala, NROER, NIOS Virtual Open School, e-Jaadui Pitara
• Learning management systems, smart classrooms, blended learning, PRAGYATA guidelines, MOOCs and open educational resources
• UDISE+ and the head of school's responsibility for data accuracy; Vidya Samiksha Kendra
• e-Office and eFile; PFMS; GeM operation; SPARROW for online APAR
• Online admission portals, digital and biometric attendance, examination portals, result processing, data dashboards
• APAAR ID, Academic Bank of Credits, National Academic Depository

Digital ethics, services and emerging technology

• Digital citizenship and digital footprint; cyberbullying and the school's response; copyright, fair use, Creative Commons and plagiarism; misinformation, deepfakes and media literacy; screen time and digital wellbeing
• DigiLocker, UMANG, e-Sign and the legal validity of digital signatures, e-KYC
• UPI, IMPS, NEFT and RTGS and the differences between them; payment security
• Digital India pillars; e-governance; Common Service Centres
• Artificial intelligence and generative AI, cloud, Internet of Things, blockchain, AR and VR in education, robotics, big data

Accessibility

• Screen readers, magnifiers, text-to-speech and speech-to-text
• Alt text, captions, transcripts, Indian Sign Language
• Braille displays, DAISY books, Sugamya Pustakalaya
• Accessible document design; guidelines for Indian government websites; Sugamya Bharat Abhiyan; assistive devices under ADIP