Supreme Court to CBSE: Consider exemption for Class 6 from three-language policy

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Wednesday asked the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) to consider exempting Class 6 students from its three-language policy for this academic year. A three-judge bench led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant, while deferring the hearing on a batch of pleas challenging the CBSE's three-language policy to September 17, asked the Board to look into the possibility of accommodating the students of Class 6 in the ongoing academic session.

" Consider Class 6 for this year... If they can be given some accommodation," the bench, also comprising Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana, told Solicitor General (SG) Tushar Mehta. SG Mehta requested the court to defer the hearing on the pleas as Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati was not available. He nonetheless assured that the officials concerned would consider the bench's suggestion.

"All of us would sit together and revert to your lordship," the top law officer said. The senior counsel for one of the petitioners said the matter should not be delayed due to more adjournments as students have to ultimately take an examination and it was causing anxiety among their parents.

CBSE's Three-Language Policy

The apex court was hearing a batch of pleas challenging the CBSE's policy mandating the study of three languages, including two native Indian languages, for Class 9 students from July 1.

On August 20, the Supreme Court had stressed the need to find a solution to issues arising out of the CBSE policy mandating the study of three languages by Class 9 students, observing that children should not come under any kind of pressure. It had said there was nothing wrong in introducing the policy but the only concern raised by the petitioners was about the manner in which it was being introduced. The bench had noted that one of the aspects that was required to be considered was how to build adequate human resource infrastructure with regard to the language options available.

Also read CBSE third language policy throws French, Spanish, German teachers across schools into crisis

Exemption for Class 6

"If you have chosen Class 6 as the starting point, you may consider giving a reprieve to Class 6 students of this year. You can introduce it from next year," it had said. The senior counsel for one of the petitioners has contended that the CBSE has no jurisdiction or authority to frame the curriculum for classes 6 to 8 as this has to be done by the NCERT.

On May 27, the top court had agreed to examine a plea challenging the policy and issued notices to the Centre, the CBSE and the NCERT seeking their responses. According to a circular issued by the CBSE, the study of three languages, including at least two native Indian languages, has been made compulsory for Class 9 students beginning July 1.

The move is part of the CBSE's alignment of its scheme of studies with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 and the National Curriculum Framework for School Education (NCF-SE), 2023. According to the circular issued on May 15, students opting for a foreign language may do so only as the third language after studying two native Indian languages, or as an additional fourth language.