India has 9.6 million teachers. Most have never accessed a single structured CPD session from a global provider. That is changing.
The Opportunity Nobody Is Talking About
When UK and US education companies think about India, they usually think about selling to schools. What they rarely think about is selling to — or through — teachers.
That is a significant blind spot. India has the world’s largest teaching workforce: approximately 9.6 million teachers serving 260 million students across 1.5 million schools. And despite this scale, structured professional development from international providers is virtually absent.
The reason is not a lack of demand. It is a lack of access.
| India’s National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 mandates 50 hours of annual CPD for every teacher. State governments are now required to fund it. The policy demand is there — the infrastructure to deliver quality international professional development at scale simply did not exist. Until now. |
What Indian Teachers Actually Want to Learn
Demand for international teacher training in India is real, specific, and growing fast. The highest-demand content areas currently are:
• Foundational pedagogy — differentiated instruction, formative assessment, inquiry-based learning
• Early years and play-based methodology — EYFS-informed, Montessori, Reggio Emilia approaches
• Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) — especially since CBSE mandated school counsellors
• STEM and coding pedagogy — the government has pushed coding into curriculum from Class 6
• English Language Teaching (ELT) — phonics, literacy instruction, reading comprehension frameworks
• School leadership and instructional coaching — for principals and middle leaders
What makes Indian educators distinctive buyers is their appetite for internationally recognised certification. A CPD programme backed by a UK university, a professional body, or a global brand carries disproportionate value — it matters for career progression, school adoption, and personal credibility.
Meet Knotral Trainings: Where Global Education Meets Indian Classrooms
In 2026, IME launched Knotral Trainings — a dedicated online platform purpose-built to bridge the gap between global education solution providers and India’s teaching community.
Think of it as a professional development marketplace: global EdTech brands and curriculum providers list their trainings; Indian teachers, school leaders, and resellers discover, attend, and get certified — all in one place, via live webinars and on-demand sessions.
Knotral Trainings serves three distinct audiences simultaneously:
| For Teachers | Access live webinars and certifications from 45+ global education brands — free or low-cost, delivered in your timezone. Categories span Literacy, Early Years, STEM, SEL, EdTech, NEP 2020 alignment, and more. |
| For Schools | Upskill your entire faculty with curated CPD packages from global education leaders — without the cost or logistics of flying trainers in. |
| For Solution Providers | Reach 50,000+ Indian educators through a trusted platform. Use Knotral to launch products, onboard resellers, run certification programmes, and build brand authority in India — fast. |
Why UK & US Providers Should Be on Knotral Now
For an international education company — a CPD provider, curriculum developer, ELT publisher, or EdTech platform — Knotral offers something that would otherwise take years and significant investment to build independently: direct access to a qualified, engaged audience of Indian educators, at scale, from day one.
Upcoming sessions on the platform include a UK-certified English programme launch, Reggio Emilia teacher certification, phonics and literacy webinars, and IB Mathematics AI integration — each attracting teachers from across India who are actively seeking exactly the kind of international content that UK and US providers create.
| The traditional route into India for a CPD provider — finding a reseller, building a distributor network, exhibiting at trade shows — still matters and still works. But Knotral is the digital layer on top: a way to build brand awareness, prove demand, and onboard your first Indian teacher cohort in weeks rather than months. |
How to Get Started
Whether you are an Indian teacher looking for internationally recognised professional development, a school wanting to upskill your faculty, or a global education provider ready to reach India’s teaching community — Knotral Trainings is the starting point.
Explore upcoming sessions and certifications at training.knotral.com — or speak to the IME team about listing your training programme on the platform.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Is there a real market for teacher training and CPD programmes in India?
Yes — and it is growing fast. India has 9.6 million teachers and a government-mandated CPD requirement under NEP 2020. International providers bringing evidence-based pedagogy, certification programmes, and subject-specific training are entering a market with almost no competitive saturation from global brands.
Q: What types of teacher training content are most in demand in Indian schools?
The highest-demand categories are foundational pedagogy frameworks, early years and play-based learning methodology, SEL integration, STEM and coding pedagogy, English Language Teaching (ELT/phonics), and school leadership development. Programmes offering internationally recognised certification command a significant price premium.
Q: What is Knotral Trainings and how does it work?
Knotral Trainings (training.knotral.com) is an online professional development platform launched by IME in 2026. It connects global education solution providers with Indian teachers, schools, and resellers through live webinars, certification programmes, product launches, and on-demand sessions. The platform has already trained 12,000+ teachers across 150+ sessions, with 45+ global EdTech brands on board.
Q: How can a UK or US education provider reach Indian teachers through Knotral?
Solution providers can list their training programmes, certifications, or product launches directly on Knotral Trainings and gain access to 50,000+ Indian educators. This gives international providers immediate brand presence in India, generates qualified leads, and builds the teacher-level demand that drives school adoption — far faster than building a ground-up distribution network alone.
Q: Do UK or US providers need an Indian entity to offer teacher training in India?
Not in the early stages. Providers can deliver training via Knotral Trainings without a local entity — the platform handles teacher registration, session delivery, and certification. For providers scaling into institutional or government contracts, establishing an Indian entity or a partnership is recommended further down the line.
Ready to explore India’s teacher training market?
IME and Knotral are the two sides of the same strategy: IME helps you enter and build distribution across India’s schools, preschools, and institutions — Knotral gives you direct, digital reach to Indian educators from day one.
