A fresh legal challenge has been brought before the Supreme Court against the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) policy that makes three languages compulsory for Class 9 students. Dr Fauzia Khan, an educationist and former Maharashtra minister from the NCP-SCP party, filed the plea on June 9, 2026, arguing that the board's May 15 circular is arbitrary and unreasonable.
The CBSE circular, issued as part of aligning its scheme of studies with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 and the National Curriculum Framework for School Education (NCF-SE) 2023, mandates that from July 1, 2026, Class 9 students must study three languages (R1, R2, R3), with at least two being native Indian languages. Students who choose a foreign language may take it only as the third language after completing two native Indian languages, or as an additional fourth language.
In her plea, Dr Khan contended that the policy effectively forces non-Hindi states to introduce Hindi and northern states to introduce Sanskrit, without any stated educational rationale. She pointed out that the circular itself acknowledges a shortage of teachers, yet still mandates compliance. The plea seeks intervention in the main matter already before the court, noting that the Supreme Court had issued a notice on a similar challenge on May 27.
According to the CBSE circular, until dedicated R3 textbooks are ready, Class 9 students will use the Class 6 R3 textbooks (2026-27 edition) for the chosen language. The board also stated that schools may supplement these textbooks with local or state literary material, such as short stories, poems, or nonfiction works, selected by the schools. Detailed guidelines for selecting and using supplementary material are expected by June 15.
To reduce pressure on students, the CBSE clarified that no board examination will be held for R3 at the Class 10 level. All assessments for R3 will be school-based and internal, and the student's performance will be reflected on the CBSE certificate. Importantly, no student will be barred from appearing in the Class X Board Examinations due to R3. Sample question papers and rubrics for internal assessment are to be released shortly.
Schools have been asked to update their R3 language offerings for Classes 6 to 9 on the OASIS portal by June 30. The policy takes effect from July 1, 2026, for Class 9 students.
