Finance
A month after announcing that a third language would be made compulsory in Class 6 beginning with the current academic session (2026-27), the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has made three languages — including at least “two native Indian languages” — compulsory for Class 9 students beginning July 1 this year.
The third language will be omitted from the Class 10 board test, and its evaluation will be “entirely school-based and internal”.
The curriculum released in April took a gradual approach to applying the three-language formula (R1, R2, R3), making it required only for Class 6 this year. So, students who are in Class 6 in the current academic session would have been the first cohort to have R3 in Class 10 in 2030-31.
But in its latest circular issued on Friday, the Board changed its earlier decision to not make R3 compulsory in Class 9 immediately, and explained that the scheme of studies for languages in Classes 9-10 is being aligned with the NCERT syllabus.
For schools that have English as the medium of instruction, English becomes the one language that is not native to India that they can teach, leaving no room for another foreign language.
“In this context, the Board has carefully reviewed the recently released NCERT syllabus for Class IX (2026-27), which includes the study of three languages (R1, R2, R3) at the secondary stage. Given that the current academic session commenced in April 2026, CBSE has decided to adopt a transitional approach to align its scheme of studies with the NCERT syllabus,” it said.
“To keep the focus on learning and reduce any undue pressure on students, no board examination shall be conducted for R3 at the Class X level,” it said. “All assessments for R3 shall be entirely school-based and internal. The performance of students in R3 will be duly reflected in the CBSE certificate,” it said.
The board also assured that “no student will be barred from appearing in the Class X board examinations due to R3.”
On the availability of teachers, the board said that schools may “engage existing teachers of other subjects who possess functional proficiency” in the language. It also allowed “inter-school resource sharing… virtual or hybrid teaching support” and the engagement of retired teachers.
Schools are requested to update their language selections on the board’s OASIS portal by June 30.
The Board has granted exemptions for children with special needs, foreign students, and CBSE schools abroad, allowing for greater flexibility in executing the third language requirement on an individual basis.
The National Curriculum Framework for School Education (NCFSE) 2023, which was created in accordance with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, requires that students study a third language in grades 6 through 10.
Source: IE
