Supreme Court To Hear Plea Against CBSE’s Three-Language Policy Next Week

The Supreme Court announced on Friday that it will consider a plea against the CBSE's new policy, which requires Class 9 students to study three languages starting on July 1, including at least two native Indian languages.

Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi mentioned the matter before a bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi.

"This is an urgent PIL. The petitioners are students, teachers and parents. They are challenging the new policy of the CBSE by which, in the 9th standard, two more languages have been made compulsory," Rohatgi said.

"It will create chaos," Rohatgi argued, pleading with the top court to schedule a hearing for Monday.

The CJI stated that the subject would be listed during the upcoming miscellaneous week.

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) recently published a circular stating that starting on July 1, students in Class 9 must study three languages, including at least two native Indian languages.

This action is part of the CBSE's effort to align its Scheme of Studies with the National Curriculum Framework for School Education (NCF-SE) 2023 and the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.

"To adequately address the competencies envisaged at the Secondary Stage, these textbooks will be supplemented with one appropriate local or state literary material, selected by schools, such as short stories, poems, or nonfiction works," the board said.

It added that detailed guidelines regarding the selection and pedagogical use of supplementary literary material would be issued by June 15.

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.

"With effect from July 1, 2026, for Class IX, the study of three languages (R1, R2, R3) shall be compulsory, with at least two languages being native Indian languages," the circular said.

The board said till the dedicated R3 textbooks are available, Class 9 students shall use the Class 6 R3 textbooks (2026-27 edition) of the chosen language.

The CBSE stated that no board test for R3 at the Class 10 level will be held in order to maintain the emphasis on learning and lessen any unnecessary strain on pupils.

"All assessments for R3 shall be entirely school-based and internal. The performance of students in R3 will be duly reflected in the CBSE certificate. It is clarified that no student will be barred from appearing in the Class X Board Examinations due to R3. Sample question papers and rubrics for internal assessment will be shared by the board shortly," it added.

The board also asked schools to update their R3 language offerings for Classes 6 to 9 on the OASIS portal by June 30.

According to the board, Class 6 R3 textbooks in 19 scheduled languages will be made available to schools before July 1, while for the remaining native Indian languages, schools may use the available State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) and state-level resources.

The board further said schools facing a shortage of adequately-qualified native Indian language teachers may, as an interim arrangement, engage existing teachers of other subjects who possess functional proficiency in the language concerned.

"Collaborative and flexible mechanisms such as inter-school resource sharing through Sahodaya clusters, virtual or hybrid teaching support, engagement of retired language teachers, and utilisation of suitably qualified postgraduates may be adopted," it added.

The CBSE further said relaxations would be provided to the Children With Special Needs (CwSN) in accordance with the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016, while foreign students returning to India may get case-by-case exemptions from the requirement of studying two native Indian languages.

The CBSE said in April that a two-level system for science and maths would be introduced for Class 9 starting with the 2026–2027 academic year, and that the three-language formula would be brought in starting with Class 6.

There will be two levels of science and maths under the proposed structure: required standard courses and elective advanced courses. All students will take the same 80-mark test, but those who choose to be more proficient can take an extra advanced paper designed to assess higher-order thinking abilities and deeper conceptual comprehension.

The CBSE then announced that the first Class 10 board exams for the 2026–2027 Class 9 cohort would take place in 2028 under the new two-level system (standard and advanced).