Digvijay Singh, Head of Parliamentary Panel On Education, Urges PM Modi to Roll Back CBSE’s Three-Language Policy

Congress MP and chairman of Parliamentary Standing Committee on Education, Digvijay Singh urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to roll back CBSE’s three language policy. 

In a letter written to PM Modi on June 5, Singh flagged concerns over the CBSE’s decision to introduce the three-language policy for Class IX students from the current academic session, warning Prime Minister Narendra Modi that the move could trigger widespread disruption in schools across the country.

Singh said the policy should not be rolled out without adequate preparation, particularly when schools continue to face shortages of teachers, textbooks and transition support. The Congress MP said he was forwarding concerns raised by parents of CBSE students who had objected to the policy’s implementation in the middle of the academic year.

“I am forwarding herewith a representation received from a group of concerned parents of CBSE Class IX students, opposing the mandatory implementation of the three-language policy in the current mid-session… Having gone through the representation, I find the concerns raised to be genuine and deserving of immediate attention,” he wrote in the letter.

Another OSM fiasco?

Singh drew parallels between the proposed language policy rollout and the controversy surrounding the CBSE’s On-Screen Marking (OSM) system.

“The sudden enforcement of this policy mid-session, without adequate teachers, textbooks, or transition time, is likely to create serious disruption, not unlike the chaos witnessed during the hasty implementation of CBSE’s On-Screen Marking (OSM) system, which adversely impacted lakhs of students across the country,” he said.

The OSM system has recently come under intense scrutiny after students complained of irregularities in evaluation and transparency. On June 5, students and youth groups gathered at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar under the banner of the Cockroach Janta Party, demanding accountability from Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan and calling for his resignation.

The protest came a day after the CBSE shifted the re-evaluation process for Class 12 answer sheets from the Coempt platform to infrastructure directly controlled by the board. The digital evaluation mechanism used for this year’s board examinations has also faced questions over procurement procedures, implementation and cybersecurity safeguards.

In his letter, Singh additionally questioned why the CBSE had moved ahead with the policy despite an earlier decision by its own governing body. He pointed out that during a meeting held in December 2025, the governing body had accepted the curriculum committee’s recommendation to continue with the existing language framework until graded language textbooks were released by NCERT.

“Despite its own Governing Body’s decision, the CBSE issued a circular on May 15, 2026, asking for the implementation of 3rd language instruction in Grade IX from 15 July 2026. The NCERT has not yet released graded textbooks of language and the CBSE has therefore recommended the use of the NCERT’s Grade 6 textbooks. It is not clear how and why the CBSE has so evidently overturned its Governing Body’s decision, and in a way that threatens the academic planning of thousands of schools across the country,” the Congress MP said.

Regional Impact

He also warned that the policy could disproportionately affect students in southern and north-eastern states where Hindi is not commonly spoken.

“Local tribal languages may not feature in CBSE’s recognised language list. Sanskrit has emerged as a popular third language choice for many schools but it should also be noted that there is a severe shortage of qualified Sanskrit teachers and appropriate textbooks, a situation that would defeat the very purpose of promoting this beautiful language,” he said.

Seeking immediate intervention from the prime minister, Singh called for the policy to be suspended for the current batch of Class IX students.

“I earnestly hope that the matter will receive your urgent and sympathetic consideration in the interest of the millions of students whose academic futures depend on sound and well-prepared policy decisions,” the Congress MP said.