The Central Board of Secondary Education said on Monday that the current batch of Class 10 students will not have to follow its new language policy.
The policy, which will come into effect from July 1, will make it mandatory for Class 9 students to learn three languages, of which two must be Indian ones. English will be counted as a non-native language.
Since the guidelines were announced on May 15, several parents and teachers have approached the Supreme Court challenging them.
The CBSE on Monday clarified that for students currently in the Class 10 batch of 2026-’27, there will be no change, and they do not need to take up a third language.
Class 9 students will need to study three languages, of which two must be Indian ones. Those who currently have two Indian languages can either take up a foreign language or a third Indian language.
Class 9 students who currently have one Indian and one non-native language can choose any Indian language as the third language. Those who are presently studying two foreign languages have been given a “special one-time relaxation” under which they can add an Indian language as the third one.
There will be no board examination for the third language for the current batch of Class 9 students, and there will instead be an internal school-based assessment.
For Class 7 and 8 students too, those who have already chosen two foreign languages can continue studying them. Such students will, however, have to study an additional Indian language till Class 10. The CBSE said that the third language for these batches will also be assessed by the school itself through an internal evaluation.
The three-language policy will apply in full to the batch of students currently in Class 6, who will not be given a transitional relaxation.
The CBSE announced the language guidelines in line with the 2020 National Education Policy, which recommends learning three languages, of which at least two are native to India.
Petitioners against the CBSE guidelines have argued before the Supreme Court that the circular violates constitutional protections, including the right to equality and the right to education.
The petitioners contended that the policy’s implementation in the middle of an academic session would impose an additional burden on students and disrupt preparation for Class 10 Board examinations. They also argued that many schools lack trained teachers, textbooks and the infrastructure needed to implement the policy effectively.
They also flagged concerns about unequal regional impact and the absence of clarity on evaluation patterns for the additional language.
The Supreme Court on May 27 agreed to examine whether the policy places undue pressure on students and if there are logistical challenges in implementing it.
Edited by Neerad Pandharipande.
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