Supreme Court to examine CBSE’s three-language policy for Class 9 students

The Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed to examine whether the Central Board of Secondary Education’s mandatory three-language policy for Class 9 students places undue pressure on students and if there are logistical challenges in implementing it, The Hindu reported.

In a circular issued on May 15, the Central Board of Secondary Education said that studying three languages would be mandatory for Class 9 students from July 1. Among the three, at least two must be Indian languages.

On Wednesday, a bench led by Chief Justice Surya Kant sought responses from the CBSE, the Union government, and the National Council of Educational Research and Training on the petitions challenging the circular.

The bench said that it was concerned about whether schools had adequate teachers, textbooks and infrastructure to implement the policy, The Hindu reported.

Appearing for the petitioners, advocate Mukul Rohatgi argued that students were already “saddled with academic load and peer pressure”.

He submitted that the burden would increase further as students would now need to pass an additional language for Class 10 certification, even though the assessments are said to remain internal and school-based.

The bench initially proposed listing the matter on June 15. However, following a request by the Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati, it postponed the hearing to the second week of July.

The petitioners had urged the court...

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