Top News

The Supreme Court has sought responses from the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) in a Public Interest Litigation challenging the decision of the CBSE to make a third language compulsory for Class 9 students from 2026-27 academic year.

The court said the matter would be heard next on either July 15 or July 16. Petitioners had requested an immediate stay on the implementation of the policy, claiming that the rule is scheduled to come into effect from July 1. However, the Supreme Court declined to stay the policy at this stage.

The petitioners argued that the sudden implementation of the rule could create difficulties for students. They also raised concerns over the shortage of teachers in schools to effectively implement the language policy.

The matter is now expected to be taken up again during the next hearing in July.

CBSE Revises Language Policy Under NEP 2020 Framework

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has rolled out a revised language policy for Classes 9 and 10 from the 2026–27 academic session, aligning the school curriculum with the objectives of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 and the National Curriculum Framework for School Education (NCF-SE) 2023.

Following the announcement, concerns were raised by parents and educationists over the timing of the rollout and the preparedness of schools to implement the revised policy. Critics pointed out that many schools had already started the academic session and even conducted unit tests before the new guidelines were issued.

The move has triggered apprehension among stakeholders, with questions being raised over whether schools have adequate infrastructure and teaching staff to smoothly implement the policy changes.