The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) told the Supreme Court on Thursday that it cannot grant a one-time exemption from its three-language requirement to students currently in Class 6, arguing that doing so would create learning gaps, disrupt the progressive implementation of the language framework and open the door to similar demands from every subsequent batch.
The latest exchange came after the Board returned with its detailed reasons for declining that suggestion. The Board relied on data to contend that the policy was already being implemented by an overwhelming majority of schools and that concerns over teachers and learning material were being addressed. For the remaining languages, SCERT textbooks and resources would be used. The committee is headed by education ministry director Bhagwati Prasad Kalal and includes NCERT secretary Rajeev Kumar, CBSE director (academics) Praggya M Singh, KVS additional commissioner Chandana Mandal and NVS deputy commissioner Somvir Poonia.
The court, however, again nudged the Board to reconsider its position after going through the fresh note, suggesting that mandatory implementation for Class 6 could instead begin from January 2027, while allowing students of the current batch to voluntarily opt for the third language in the interim. The court’s suggestion essentially revisits the same issue it had flagged on August 20, when it had first asked the CBSE to consider a one-time reprieve for the current Class 6 batch. The CBSE said Class 6 was intended to be the starting point for the relevant cohort under the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 and National Curriculum Framework for School Education (NCF-SE) 2023. Exempting the present batch, it said, would mean that students would enter Classes 7 and 8 without the learning exposure and continuity contemplated under the revised framework. The Board said Class 6 textbooks for the third language in all 22 scheduled Indian languages were already available on the NCERT website, covering the choices of 98.36% of schools. The Board also informed the court that a five-member committee had been constituted on September 16 to facilitate and monitor implementation of the three-language framework in Classes 6 to 10.
“If the present Class VI students are exempted at the foundational stage of implementation, they would enter Classes VII and VIII without the learning exposure and continuity contemplated under the framework,” said the Board.
