New Delhi, 28 September (H.S.): The Supreme Court has directed that Class 6 students be granted the same relief this year under the Central Board of Secondary Education’s (CBSE) three-language policy as has been extended to Class 7 students. A Bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant rejected the Centre’s contention that most educational institutions in the country were in favour of implementing the policy from the current academic session.

The Supreme Court’s order means that the CBSE’s three-language policy can be implemented in its entirety only from the 2027-28 academic session. Earlier, on September 17, the court had also asked the authorities to consider granting relief to Class 6 students. The court had observed that since the policy was a national policy, a defined institutional framework was involved. It had questioned why Class 6 students could not be granted the same relief if exemptions had been extended to students from Classes 7 to 10.

During the hearing, the Centre had submitted that Class 6 students would have to appear for their Board examinations after four years and therefore needed to be prepared from the outset. The Centre also informed the court that a special committee had been constituted to examine the practical difficulties associated with the matter and the implementation of the three-language policy.

The petition was filed by students, parents and teachers. It contended that under the CBSE’s new three-language policy, the study of two additional languages would become compulsory from Class 9. It would also be mandatory for students to study two Indian languages among the three languages.

The petitioners argued that suddenly making the study of two additional languages compulsory for Class 9 students could affect their preparation for the Class 10 Board examinations. They questioned how students would be able to learn two new languages at such a late stage and subsequently appear for examinations in those subjects, arguing that the change could cause considerable difficulty for students.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar