CBSE is the national education board of the country for public and private schools. Recognised worldwide, CBSE is an autonomous body that works under the supervision of the Ministry of Human Resource Development. The current chairman of the Board is Manoj Ahuja.

In 1952, the CBSE was given its present name ‘Central Board of Secondary Education’, and in the year 1962, the Board was reconstituted. The Board provides affiliations to various schools and all of them have to follow the NCERT curriculum. The CBSE jurisdiction stretches all over India as well as beyond the national geographical boundaries of the country. The CBSE Board has seen rapid growth and expansion at the level of Secondary education resulting in improved quality and standard of education in institutions. From 309 schools under it back in 1962, the Board now has 21,271 schools in India, 228 schools in 25 foreign countries. There are 1,138 Kendriya Vidyalayas, 3,011 Government/Aided Schools, 16,741 Independent Schools, 595 Jawahar Novodaya Vidyalayas, and 14 Central Tibetan Schools, as of May 1, 2019.

CBSE’s main aim is to serve the educational institutions more effectively and wants to be responsive to the educational needs of those students whose parents were employed in the Central Government and had frequently transferable jobs. Through the regional offices that are set up by the CBSE, the body maintains educational standards across the country by monitoring the activities of these regional offices on a regular basis. These regional offices in various parts of the country take care of the day-to-day administration of the affiliated schools. The Board conducts centralized examinations for classes 10th and 12th every year in the months of February and March.

The CBSE Class 10 Board Exams are called All India Secondary School Examination (AISSE) and the Class 12 Board exams are called – All India Senior School Certificate Examination (AISSCE). CBSE made the Class X board exams optional in 2010-2011, however, from 2018 onwards the exam has been made compulsory for all the students.