Members' edition
Free digital copy for members of XSchools.in and Littlerootsapp.com
The XSchools Bulletin
New methods and education news, every week, for teachers, schools and parents across India
Free weeklyNot for saleDigital edition
Vol. 1, Issue 2Tuesday, 22 September 2026All-India edition4 pages
Recruitment
Hiring season: more than 47,000 government teacher posts notified in Bihar and Karnataka
Bihar's TRE 4.0 opens for applications, Karnataka's 15,000-post drive moves to the next stage, and Kendriya Vidyalayas now take contractual teachers through one national portal.
By the XSchools.in news desk
Posts from Class 1 to Class 12 are open across the two states.Representative photo: cin . / Unsplash
Bihar. The Bihar Public Service Commission has notified 32,388 school teacher posts for Classes 1 to 12 under Advertisement No. 14/2026 (TRE 4.0). Under the revised schedule, online applications open from 21 September. Candidates need the eligibility test that matches the level, CTET or BTET for Classes 1 to 8 and STET for Classes 9 to 12, and the exam carries negative marking.
Karnataka. The state's drive covers 15,000 posts in government primary and high schools: 8,500 Graduate Primary Teachers, 4,500 Assistant Masters, 900 Primary School Teachers, 600 Physical Education Teachers and 500 Computer Science Teachers. Applications opened on 18 August, and the window was reported extended to mid-September.
Kendriya Vidyalayas. From the 2026–27 session, all KVs register contractual teachers through the Samvida Sathi portal. Candidates create one free profile and are considered by many KVs. The portal covers PGT, TGT and PRT posts as well as counsellors, special educators and sports coaches, with final selection by interview at each school.
48 teachers from across India receive the National Teachers' Award
President Droupadi Murmu presented the National Teachers' Awards 2026 at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi, on 5 September. The 48 school teachers come from 27 states, 7 union territories and 6 central organisations, including KVS, NVS, EMRS and Sainik Schools: 26 men and 22 women.
Selection runs through district, state and national levels. Self-nominations for 2026 were open from 15 June to 20 July, so note those weeks for next year.
New School Management Committee guidelines put parents at the table
The Union Education Ministry's SMC Guidelines 2026 bring parents, teachers, local representatives and community members together to plan and review school work, from Balvatika to Class 12.
At the launch, the Ministry said NCERT's new textbooks are now available up to Class 9, with Classes 10, 11 and 12 to follow in the coming years.
The XSchools BulletinPage 2 | Tuesday, 22 September 2026
The teacher's toolkit
A collection of 14 free websites worth bookmarking
This week's pick
DIKSHA: the national platform most teachers have, and few fully use
Scan the QR code in an NCERT textbook, and DIKSHA opens the matching lesson.Representative photo: Swastik Arora / Unsplash
DIKSHA is the Ministry of Education's free digital platform for school teachers and students. It holds lessons, practice questions, teacher training courses and the energised textbook content linked to QR codes printed in NCERT and many state textbooks.
The upgraded DIKSHA 2.0, launched in September 2025, works on phones, tablets and computers. It added AI-powered tools such as Read Aloud and translation of text files into 12 Indian languages.
Try this first: open the app, choose your board, medium and class, then scan the QR code on the first page of any chapter you teach this week.
NCERT's free online teacher training: NISHTHA 1.0 for elementary, 2.0 for secondary, 3.0 for foundational literacy and numeracy, and 4.0 for early childhood care and education.
Pratham Books' free library of illustrated children's stories in a very large number of Indian and world languages, to read, download, print or translate.
The XSchools BulletinPage 3 | Tuesday, 22 September 2026
Early years activity collection
Eight foundational stage activities that cost almost nothing
Foundational stage, ages 3 to 8
Play first, with what is already in the classroom
Talk, movement and friends do more for young learners than long worksheets.Representative photo: Church of the King / Unsplash
Under NEP 2020, the foundational stage covers three years of pre-school or Balvatika and Classes 1 and 2. Learning in these years should come through play, stories, rhymes, movement and talk. Every activity below uses free or waste material, works in any language, and fits into 15 to 20 minutes.
Mystery sound bag
Age
3 to 5
Time
10 minutes
You need
A cloth bag, small objects
A child pulls out one object, names it and says its first sound: "cup, /k/". The group finds something else in the room with the same sound. Play it in the home language too.
Builds: listening, first sounds
Number line hopscotch
Age
5 to 7
Time
15 minutes
You need
Chalk
Draw 0 to 10 on the floor. Call "start at 3, hop 2 more". The child hops and calls out where they landed. Later, hop backwards to take away.
Builds: counting on, adding
Leaf sorting
Age
3 to 6
Time
20 minutes
You need
Leaves from the school ground
Children sort leaves by size, then colour, then shape. Ask "why did you put these together?" and let each group explain its own rule.
Builds: classifying, describing words
Story stones
Age
4 to 8
Time
15 minutes
You need
Pebbles with simple drawings
A child picks three stones, perhaps a sun, a dog and a boat, and tells a story that uses all three in order. Friends retell it in their own words.
Builds: speaking, sequence
Classroom shop
Age
5 to 8
Time
20 minutes
You need
Empty packets, bottle caps as coins
One child is the shopkeeper, others buy. Price items from 1 to 10 caps. Buyers count out payment, and the shopkeeper checks it.
Builds: counting, money sense, turn-taking
Pattern floor art
Age
5 to 8
Time
20 minutes
You need
Chalk or flour
Use the dot-and-line floor art children see at home, such as rangoli, kolam, muggu, alpana or mandana. Children copy a simple repeating pattern, then create their own and ask a friend to continue it.
Builds: pattern, hand control, culture
Shadow watch
Age
4 to 7
Time
5 minutes, three times a day
You need
Sunlight, chalk
A child stands on a chalk cross while a friend traces their shadow in the morning, before lunch and before home time. Compare the three outlines.
Builds: observing, early science
Rhyme circle from home
Age
3 to 6
Time
10 minutes
You need
Nothing
Each week, one child brings a rhyme from home in any language. The class learns it with actions and claps its beats.
Builds: rhythm, syllables, respect for every language
The XSchools BulletinPage 4 | Tuesday, 22 September 2026
How the world goes to school
Seven countries, their structure, and one idea from each
At a glance
When does Grade 1 begin?
IndiaClass 1 at 6
FinlandGrade 1 at 7
SingaporePrimary 1 at 7
JapanGrade 1 at 6
GermanyGrade 1 at 6
EnglandYear 1 at 5
New ZealandYear 1 at 5
345678age
Shaded bar: pre-school years in each system (compulsory in Finland for one year at 6; Reception in England at 4). Gold dot: the usual age for the first grade. Ages show the common route; exact rules vary.
Home
India
Structure: NEP 2020's 5+3+3+4. Foundational stage (ages 3 to 8: three years of pre-school or Balvatika, then Classes 1 and 2), Preparatory (Classes 3 to 5), Middle (6 to 8), Secondary (9 to 12).
What it asks of us: the first five years should be play-based and activity-led, taught in the child's home language wherever possible.
Structure: early childhood education, then one compulsory pre-primary year at 6. Nine-year comprehensive school starts in the year a child turns 7. Education is compulsory until 18 or an upper secondary qualification.
Idea to borrow: Grades 1 to 9 are assessed mainly by teachers, not by a national leaving exam, and all comprehensive school teachers hold a Master's degree.
Structure: optional kindergarten from 3, then six years of elementary school from 6 and three years of lower secondary. Nine years are compulsory, and the school year begins in April.
Idea to borrow: lesson study, where teachers plan one lesson together, watch it taught, and improve it as a group. Children also share daily jobs like cleaning and serving lunch.
Structure: optional pre-school, then six years of primary school, starting in the year a child turns 7. The Primary School Leaving Examination comes at the end of Primary 6.
Idea to borrow: maths moves from concrete objects to pictures to symbols, so children hold and draw an idea before they write it.
Structure: the Early Years Foundation Stage runs from birth to 5, including a Reception year at 4. School is compulsory from the term after a child turns 5. Key Stages 1 to 4 run to GCSEs at 16, and young people stay in education or training until 18.
Idea to borrow: a short phonics check in Year 1, so every child who cannot yet decode is noticed early.
Structure: optional Kita before school, then primary school (Grundschule) from about 6, usually for four years (six in Berlin and Brandenburg). After that, children move into different types of secondary school.
Idea to borrow: the dual system, where vocational students learn in class and on the job at the same time. It is a useful model for India's skill subjects.
Structure: early childhood education follows the Te Whāriki curriculum. Children can start school on their fifth birthday, school is compulsory from 6, and it runs from Year 1 to Year 13.
Idea to borrow: a bicultural early years curriculum that keeps the Māori language beside English, much as NEP asks us to keep the mother tongue.
Free digital edition for members of XSchools.in and Littlerootsapp.com. Not for sale.
News summaries are written by the XSchools.in desk from public sources. Links open the original publisher or official website. Please confirm dates on official notices.
