Supreme Court directs CBSE to extend 3rd language policy exemption to Class 6 students

The bench, also comprising justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana said, “Let students of Class 6 have the same comfort as Class 7 students”

The Supreme Court on Monday directed the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) to grant one-time exemption from its three-language policy to students currently studying in Class 6, observing that the decision is taken to extend the same “comfort” as available to students of Class 7, 8, and 9.

The interim order was passed by a bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant. (PTI)

The interim order was passed by a bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant while hearing a bunch of petitions challenging the rollout of the three-language policy, initially for Class 9 students and a subsequent one for implementing it from Class 6.

The bench said, “We direct the students of Class 6 may be granted the same exemption as granted to Class 7 students,” as it posted the hearing on the main issue concerning the three-language policy and treating English as a foreign language after six weeks.

The CBSE represented by solicitor general Tushar Mehta along with additional solicitor general (ASG) Aishwarya Bhati informed the bench that pursuant to the court’s suggestion of exempting the present Class 6 students, the matter was considered and CBSE has decided to implement it for Class 6 students starting this year.

Mehta told the court that out of the 28,000 odd CBSE schools in the country, almost 99% have adopted the policy and have the requisite books and teachers. He said that only 1.2% of the schools are facing difficulty implementing the rollout.

He further said that Class 6 was intended to be the starting point for the relevant cohort under the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 and National Curriculum Framework for School Education (NCF-SE) 2023. According to him, exempting the present batch would mean that students enter Class 7 and 8 without the learning exposure and continuity contemplated under the revised framework.

The bench, also comprising justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana said, “Let students of Class 6 have the same comfort as Class 7 students. What we are saying is that so many months have passed since the academic session began in April. Have it implemented from April 2027. By then, the books and requisite teachers will also be available.”

Mehta said that the books and teachers for Class 6 are available and only about 1.2% of schools are facing difficulty. The court clarified, “Please consider that we are not putting any interdict on the CBSE scheme. We asked for an exemption this year so that students can come to terms with the change. It was only a question of a soft launch so that they could be given the same privilege as Class 7 students.”

The petitioners represented by senior advocates Gopal Sankaranarayanan and Anand Grover among others said that the issue cannot be prolonged due to anxiety among students. The court even proposed to have a committee of officers who are experts to reach out to the schools which are facing difficulties in implementing the policy.

The petitioners argued that the parents of these children have waited enough and the issue concerns the future of nearly 3,00,000 students studying in CBSE schools. Sankaranarayan said that while these students are already burdened psychologically and mentally, the CBSE should consider reducing the burden of introducing anything in the middle of the academic calendar.

The court said, “We made the suggestion due to the impact it had on children so that the question of logistical difficulty does not become a pressing concern.”

The Board had earlier told the court that Class 6 textbooks for the third language in all 22 scheduled Indian languages were already available on the NCERT website, covering the choices of over 98% of schools. For the remaining languages, SCERT textbooks and resources would be used.

On teacher availability, the CBSE said data from 20,777 schools showed that 19,386, or about 93.3%, already had teachers for at least two distinct indigenous languages. Of these, 3,523 schools had teachers for three or more such languages.

The Board also informed the court that a five-member committee had been constituted on September 16 to facilitate and monitor implementation of the three-language framework in Classes 6 to 10.

The committee is headed by education ministry director Bhagwati Prasad Kalal and includes NCERT secretary Rajeev Kumar, CBSE director (academics) Praggya M Singh, KVS additional commissioner Chandana Mandal and NVS deputy commissioner Somvir Poonia.

Grover, appearing for the petitioners, told the court that textbooks for some Indian languages are still not available. Other petitioners pointed out that some textbooks of Class 9 are only available online while a physical copy of the same is still awaited. This would cause serious impediment for students in rural areas.

The bench however pointed out that during COVID-19 pandemic, the students adapted to online mode and are equipped to handle their work on mobiles and it chided the petitioners for coming up with “better” reasons.

As per the present arrangement, the CBSE requirement could become mandatory for students entering Class 6 next year. The significant change introduced by the Board requires at least two of the three languages to be indigenous Indian languages.

The CBSE has already granted transitional relief to students in Classes 7, 8 and 9 who were studying two non-indigenous languages. They can retain their existing combination while adding an Indian language, with the additional language assessed at the school level rather than through the Class 10 board examination.

Some concerns were raised by petitioners that even the school-level assessment at the Class 10 level may lead to results being withheld. Allaying such concerns, the bench said, “We want to see one school holding back a student on internal assessment.”