On 13 August 2026, the Commonwealth of Learning-Commonwealth Educational Media Centre for Asia (COL-CEMCA), in collaboration with the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), convened a one-day consultative workshop on “Strengthening Skill Education through Community of Practice (CoP) in India” at CBSE Headquarters, New Delhi. The consultation brought together skill educators, principals, school leaders and administrators to collectively explore how a meaningful and sustainable Community of Practice could support skill education in schools.

During the opening session, Dr. B. Shadrach, Director, COL-CEMCA, situated the initiative within the larger vision of NEP 2020, emphasising the need for the seamless integration of skill and academic education and for nurturing a lifelong skill acquisition mindset among learners. Recognising the challenges faced by educators, including workload, infrastructure limitations and limited support ecosystems, he stressed that such challenges can be addressed by bringing practitioners together to share knowledge, resources, best practices and solutions.

Dr. Biswajit Saha, Professor & Director (Skill Education), CBSE, articulated the Community of Practice as a space where educators can learn together and collectively solve real-life challenges. He emphasised that individual expertise, when combined with collective intelligence, can generate innovative ideas and practices. He further stressed that good practices should not remain confined to individual schools but should have the opportunity to grow and benefit hundreds of schools.

The consultation enabled participants to contribute ideas towards the design of the proposed CoP, highlighting peer learning, collaboration, mentoring, sharing of practices and resources, and collective problem-solving as important elements. Participants also explored skill education models and resource ecosystems in Germany, Switzerland, Singapore, Finland and Australia, drawing insights from different approaches to supporting skill education and educators.

The workshop concluded with valuable inputs from educators and school leaders that will inform the next phase of designing the CBSE–COL-CEMCA Community of Practice for Skill Education in India, with the aim of building a sustained ecosystem for professional learning, knowledge sharing and collaborative problem-solving.