The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has pulled the Computational Thinking (CT) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) modules out of the Class 9 curriculum for the 2026-27 academic session, only days after the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) put out its introductory 20-hour CT and AI course for Classes 9 to 12.
A board circular issued on Thursday, 29 October, states that the CT and AI modules and the interdisciplinary subject Individuals in Society will not form part of Class 9 studies this year. For the same cohort, Environmental Education will be left out when the students move to Class 10 in 2027-28. Students now in Class 10 will continue under the existing scheme.
Aligning with the rollout schedule
The circular, signed by Dr Praggya M Singh, Professor and Director (Academics), says the change is meant to align the introduction of the new curricular area with its implementation schedule. It does not give a date for when the three components will be brought in for later batches.
The board’s revised Class 9 scheme, announced in April in line with NEP 2020 and the National Curriculum Framework for School Education (NCF-SE) 2023, had placed CT and AI modules inside the curriculum, to be taught and assessed internally using NCERT material. NCERT released that material on 23 October, but textbooks for Individuals in Society and Environmental Education are still awaited.
What the 2026-27 Class 9 cohort will study
Students in the current Class 9 batch will take nine subjects: three languages (R1, R2 and R3), Mathematics, Science, Social Science, Art Education, Physical Education and Well-being, and Vocational Education, with the option of one additional subject.
Vocational Education stays compulsory. Students can choose either Kaushal Vikas, which is assessed internally by the school, or one of 22 skill subjects, including Information Technology, Artificial Intelligence and Data Science, which carry a board examination in Class 10 and lead to a certificate under the National Skills Qualifications Framework (NSQF). For students who want AI in their timetable this year, the skill-subject route therefore remains open.
Five compulsory board subjects, with a skill safety net
In its FAQs, CBSE has also spelt out the Class 10 pass rules for this cohort, who will sit the board exams in 2028. Students must score at least 33 per cent in each of five compulsory subjects, namely R1, R2, Mathematics, Science and Social Science, combining internal assessment and board marks. A student who fails Mathematics, Science or Social Science but clears a chosen skill subject can have that skill subject counted in place of the failed paper. The provision does not extend to Kaushal Vikas.
Children with Special Needs get added flexibility: one compulsory language with a board exam, and four more board subjects chosen from a defined list that includes up to two skill subjects.
Why it matters
The decision pauses, for one cohort, a central plank of the push to bring AI literacy into secondary schools, even as states and boards widen AI and computer education at lower grades. It also comes against a stark infrastructure backdrop: recent UDISE+ data shows that about one in three Indian schools still lacks a working computer. For schools, the immediate task is to communicate the revised scheme to parents and steer interested students towards the AI and IT skill subjects that remain available.
Sudha Acharya, Principal of ITL School in Delhi, told Hindustan Times that five compulsory board subjects could ease examination pressure and that the flexibility to pick skill subjects gives students more room to follow their interests. The board, however, has yet to say when CT and AI will return to the core Class 9 curriculum.
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