NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has directed that students currently studying in Class 6 under the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) be granted the same exemption from the mandatory three-language policy as the students of Classes 7, 8 and 9.
The direction came after the Centre told the court that it was not inclined to exempt Class 6 students from the policy this year.
The Centre submitted that nearly 99 per cent of the CBSE schools had adopted the third-language policy and had the necessary facilities, with only around 1.2 per cent of schools affected.
The court, however, said Class 6 students should have the same ‘comfort’ that had been extended to students of Class 7 and directed that the policy be implemented for them from April 1, 2027.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told the court that the government was not inclined to exempt Class 6 students from the policy from this year. “We had detailed discussions. We are not inclined to exempt Class 6 from this year onwards. They should pursue it from this year itself,” he said.
“The Solicitor General of India has submitted that about 99% of the schools have adopted the third-language policy and have been provided the necessary facilities. In light of this, we direct that students of Class 6, like the students of Class 7, may be granted the same exemption as has been granted to students of Class 7,” the order stated.
During the hearing, the court raised concerns about introducing the new language framework midway for students who had already chosen their languages.
CJI Surya Kant suggested that a committee of senior officers could reach out to petitioner schools and understand the difficulties they were facing.
The lawyers appearing for the parents told the Supreme Court that the sudden change in the mandatory language requirement was affecting students’ education.
The court had earlier asked the Centre and CBSE to consider a ‘soft launch’ of the new arrangement from 2027 to avoid forcing students to make sudden changes during their studies.
Under the exemption, students will continue to study a third language but will not be required to appear for the Class 10 CBSE board examination in that language. The third language will be assessed through internal assessment at the school level and will not determine whether a student passes or fails Class 10.
The same arrangement, which is already applicable to Classes 7, 8 and 9, will now also apply to the current Class 6 batch. Chief Justice Surya Kant indicated that students would not be marked pass or fail based on the third language and would only receive an attendance certificate.