2 Lakh Educators Join CENTA TPO, World’s Largest Teaching Competition

~ Celebrating a decade of global teacher excellence with participation from over 100 countries

~ Prize winners will receive cash awards totalling to INR 30 lakhs (USD 35,000)

Bengaluru.Centre for Teacher Accreditation (CENTA®), the world’s largest professional platform for teachers, has successfully concluded the 10th edition of International TPO (International Teaching Professionals’ Open), marking a decade of the world’s largest and most inclusive competition for teachers. This year, International TPO drew more than 200,000 registrations from over 100 countries and brought together 3,000 teachers for the global Finals.

Originating in India and now held globally, International TPO 2025 continued to attract strong participation from Indian teachers while also witnessing significant international engagement. Educators from emerging economies across Asia and Africa, and the GCC, formed a substantial share of this year’s global cohort, reflecting the growing relevance of CENTA’s India-led model of professional standards and assessment.

International TPO 2025 assessed educators on their teaching competencies, including subject expertise, pedagogy, classroom practice, and continuous professional development. Participants qualified through CENTA’s multiple pathways: learning on the CENTA app, performance in the CENTA Teaching Quotient (TQ) assessment, or nominations from school leaders, parents, colleges, and significant government departments. This year, two Indian State Governments – Jharkhand and Odisha nominated teachers, signalling rising institutional recognition of CENTA’s frameworks.

With the global Finals now completed, the results of the international competition will be announced on January 31, 2026. Prize winners will receive cash awards totalling to INR 30 lakhs (USD 35,000), global certifications, fellowships, and media recognition.

Ratan Sharma, a finalist from D.B.M.S. English School, Jamshedpur, Jharkhand, said, “The experience went beyond an examination. Simulating real classroom scenarios, handling a distracted class, and teaching concepts authentically became powerful moments of self-reflection. It reinforced that such platforms are not just about winning, but about learning, evolving, and becoming better educators.”

International TPO 2025 was conducted in partnership with leading global institutions such as the University of California Santa Cruz, and Oxford University Press. These partners support awards such as the Oxford Teachers Academy Certification, opportunities to participate in the UCSC Science Internship Program, and the chance to shadow leading scientists.

Speaking about the impact of TPO, Ramya Venkataraman, Founder and CEO of CENTA, said, “Across the world, we are facing a critical challenge in ensuring quality education for every child. A big part of this challenge is the lack of recognition and support for teachers as skilled professionals. Through CENTA and TPO, we are working to close this gap by building a platform that recognises teacher competencies, creates career opportunities, and puts teachers at the heart of education reform. As we mark ten years of this journey, I am inspired to see teachers in India leading with passion, skill, and purpose on a global stage.”

International TPO 2025 aligns with the objectives of India’s National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 and the National Professional Standards for Teachers (NPST), promoting performance-based recognition and continuous professional development. CENTA’s approach enables measurable and scalable improvement in teaching quality, impacting student outcomes and national growth.

With a community of 1.9 million teachers across 170+ countries and more than twenty million learning engagements annually, CENTA is building a professional ecosystem that drives aspiration, growth, and transformation in education.

About CENTA:

Centre for Teacher Accreditation (CENTA®) Pvt. Ltd., founded by Ramya Venkataraman with the mission to “make teaching aspirational,” is one of the largest teacher platforms in the world, impacting over 1.9 million teachers across 100,000+ schools and 7,000+ locations in India, with a growing presence in the Middle East, Africa, South East Asia, and the UK. The widely accepted CENTA® Standards serve as a pioneering teacher competency framework in India and have significantly contributed to the development of the National Professional Standards for Teachers (NPST) under the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. Working closely with NCERT, CBSE, and several state education boards, CENTA partners with both private and government schools to empower teachers and strengthen education quality nationwide.

About Author