THE Supreme Court on Wednesday asked the Centre and the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) to consider extending to the current Class 6 students the exemption from the three-language framework that has been granted to students of Class 7. On September 17, the top court had asked the CBSE to consider implementing its policy mandating the study of three languages, including two native Indian languages, for Class 6 students from the next academic session starting 2027. According to CBSE’s June 29 statement, the current batches studying in Classes 7, 8 and 9 would not be required to give board examination in third language when they progress to Class 10. A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana asked Solicitor General Tushar Mehta and Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati, appearing for the Centre and the CBSE, to grant the same relaxation granted to students of Classes 7, 8 and 9 to students of Class 6 this year. “The Solicitor General has submitted that about 99 per cent of schools have adopted the third-language policy and have been provided the necessary facilities, and only about 1.2 per cent of the schools have not. 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 bench said in its order.

 

It posted the pleas for hearing after six weeks and asked the CBSE to file its reply affidavit within four weeks and rejoinder, if any, in two weeks after the reply is filed. The CBSE, in its statement, had said that for the current batch of Class 7 and Class 8, the students who have already selected and started “studying two non-native languages, need to study 01 additional ‘Bhartiya Bhasha’ and continue the same till Class 10 Assessment”. “The third language (R3) will be assessed by the school through an internal school-based assessment only. There will be no CBSE Board examination for this third language when these batches progress to Class 10,” the CBSE had said. The apex court, by the order, on Monday asked the CBSE to accord the same benefits to the students of Class 6 this year. During the hearing, the Centre, however, maintained that it was not inclined to exempt the current Class 6 batch from the policy and said students should pursue the new language framework from the current academic year itself. The solicitor general told the bench that the latest data showed that implementationrelated difficulties affected only about 1.2 per cent of CBSEaffiliated schools. According to the Centre, nearly 99 per cent of schools had adopted the third-language policy and had the necessary facilities. Justice Bagchi suggested that the implementation for students who are already in Class 6 could be deferred, allowing the CBSE additional time to put the required infrastructure in place.