CBSE eases three-language policy : From the session of 2026-2027 onwards, the CBSE has issued detailed guidelines for the implementation of the three language policy in its affiliated institutions. The guidelines were issued in the wake of NEP 2020 in terms of which it has become clear how the Indian languages will be taught to students without taking any student studying in the system unawares.
The new guidelines have come within a month of the CBSE making it mandatory for students in class nine from July 1 to learn three languages, including at least two Indian languages. Since then a number of students and their parents have challenged the CBSE guidelines in court.
The three-language rule requires that the students have to study at least two languages where one should definitely belong to the list of native languages of India, which are called the Indian Language. Languages such as Hindi, Sanskrit, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Bengali, Punjabi, Gujarati, Odia, Assamese, and other languages listed in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution of India are some of these languages. English, French, German, Arabic, and Spanish are some non-native languages, which may be taken as the third language (R3), but then, they should not be the only languages studied by the students; they have to study at least one other Indian language.
Guidelines : There is no need for the present batch of Class 10 students to study and test themselves in a third language; rather, they will stick to the old pattern of two languages. In order to ensure that there is no confusion or stress amongst the students appearing for their board examinations, this matter has been clarified by CBSE. Students in class 9 will now study three languages, out of which at least two would be Indian Language.
However, CBSE has clarified the context: Class 9 students must know that only internal assessment within the school will be considered while evaluating the third language (R3). There will not be a third language CBSE Board exam for this batch when they reach Class 10 in 2027-2028. As per the Board regulations, grade-level appropriate learning material will be made available to CBSE and NCERT in order to make this possible. When they reach Class 9 and Class 10, students in Class 7 and 8 will have three languages, out of which two languages will be Indian Language. Students who already have two foreign languages can relax a bit by opting for Indian Language as their third language.
The students of class 6 for the session of 2026-27 will be the very first batch to come under the three language policy; the two Indian Language policy will not be exempted. The first batch to be thoroughly assessed according to the new policy when they become eligible for Class 10 and appear for CBSE Board exam in R3. Specialized R3 texts for class 6 in 22 scheduled Indian Language have already been released by NCERT and can be obtained at ncert.nic.in.
