CBSE Global Curriculum 2026: International Schools Planned in UAE
The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) is preparing to transform into an international board and expand its footprint beyond India, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan announced.
Speaking at a Teachers’ Day event hosted by the Indian Consulate in Dubai on September 11, 2025, Pradhan said CBSE is working on commissioning an international board under which schools will be established worldwide, including in the UAE.
Currently, the UAE is home to 109 CBSE-affiliated schools, overseen by the CBSE Regional Office and Centre of Excellence based at the Consulate. “The CBSE is planning to commission an international board, and schools following that will open globally, including in the UAE,” Pradhan told Gulf News.
CBSE’s Global Presence
Beyond the UAE, CBSE already operates overseas schools in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, and other countries, managed under the supervision of respective Indian consulates.
As of June 2024, CBSE is India’s largest education board, with more than 28,900 affiliated schools across the country.
Reviving International Ambitions
While CBSE had previously introduced the CBSE International (CBSE-i) curriculum in 2010 for Indian and overseas students, the program was later discontinued. Now, the board is preparing to re-enter the global education sector with a newly designed international curriculum expected to be launched in April 2026.
The upcoming framework aims to deliver a globally aligned and adaptable syllabus that integrates India’s national education priorities with international learning benchmarks. The move is seen as an effort to position CBSE as a strong alternative to established international boards such as the International Baccalaureate (IB) and Cambridge.
