Supreme Court seeks Centre’s response on CBSE’s three-language policy for Class 9 students

The Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed to examine the validity of the Central Board of Secondary Educationrsquos CBSE revised threelanguage formula for Class 9 studentsA Bench led by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant along with Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi issued notices to the Centre the Central Board of Secondary Education and the National Council of Educational Research and Training seeking detailed responses on the matter reported the IANSThe Bench however declined to grant an interim stay on the implementation of the policy The matter is expected to be heard again in the second week of July after the Supreme Court reopens following the summer vacationDuring the hearing senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi argued that the CBSE circular effectively compels students to study three languages from July 1 despite schools not being adequately preparedHe informed the court that textbooks for the new language requirement were still unavailable raising concerns over the practical implementation of the policySenior advocate Kapil Sibal appearing in a connected matter argued that the issue involved larger constitutional questions including federalism and linguistic freedomldquoLanguage is a matter of choice and cannot be imposedrdquo Sibal submitted before the Bench the news agency reportedSupreme Court focuses on implementation issuesThe court stated that at this stage it was not examining the broader federal issues linked to language policy Instead the Bench said it was currently concerned with practical aspects such as the availability of teachers textbooks and other educational resourcesAdditional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati appearing for the Centre opposed the demand for urgent interim relief She argued that the issue could be examined in detail later and that the implementation would remain subject to the Supreme Courtrsquos final decisionWhat the revised CBSE policy saysUnder the CBSE circular issued on 15 May Class 9 students will now have to study three languages mdash referred to as R1 R2 and R3 mdash as part of the transition towards the National Education Policy 2020 and the National Curriculum Framework for School Education 2023 according to the IANSThe revised framework requires at least two of the three languages to be native Indian languages Students may choose a foreign language only as the third language or as an optional fourth languageCBSE has stated that until dedicated Class 9 textbooks are published schools may use Class 6 textbooks for the third languageThe Board also clarified that there would be no separate Board examination for the third language at the Class 10 level and assessments would remain internalAcknowledging possible shortages of qualified language teachers CBSE said schools could adopt temporary measures during the transition period These include interschool sharing of teachers hybrid learning methods and the appointment of retired educators as per the IANSAnnamalai urges CBSE to withdraw circularMeanwhile former BJP Tamil Nadu president K Annamalai urged CBSE to withdraw the circular saying the sudden implementation would place additional pressure on students and parentsIn a post on X Annamalai stated that while he had initially welcomed the threelanguage framework announced earlier in April 2026 the latest decision to implement it immediately for Class 9 students had created anxiety especially in Tamil Nadu where language issues remain politically sensitiveHe argued that students who had already selected their language options in Class 6 should not now be forced to take up an additional language midway through their schoolingAnnamalai further warned that abrupt changes to the curriculum could negatively affect studentsrsquo academic performance and appealed to CBSE to reconsider the movewith IANS inputs