Supreme Court Raises Concern Over CBSE’s Third Language Policy for Class 9

New Delhi, Jul 16: The Supreme Court on Thursday expressed concern over the introduction of a third language from Class 9 under the CBSE curriculum, observing that it could add to students’ academic stress and suggesting that such a policy would be more appropriate from Class 5 or Class 6. A Bench comprising Justices B.V. Nagarathna and R. Mahadevan orally advised the Centre not to introduce the third language at the secondary school level. “Please don’t have a third language from Class 9 level. It would unnecessarily increase the stress level of students. If you want to introduce a new language, then do it from Class 5 or Class 6, but not from Class 9. Students already face significant academic pressure from Class 8 onwards,” Justice Nagarathna observed, asking the Centre’s counsel to convey the court’s views to the government. The observations came during the hearing of a petition filed by the Tamil Nadu Government challenging a Madras High Court direction to facilitate the establishment of Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas (JNVs) in every district of the State. Tamil Nadu has consistently opposed the establishment of JNVs, citing concerns over the three-language policy followed in these schools. The Bench clarified that it was not directly examining the validity of the CBSE’s new language policy but was commenting on the timing of introducing an additional language in schools. Meanwhile, a separate Bench of the Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice Surya Kant is already hearing petitions challenging the CBSE’s revised language policy and has recently declined to stay the notification.