The Shiksha Sadan which houses the Central Board of Secondary Education. File
| Photo Credit: V.V. Krishnan
The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) acknowledged the possibility of a resource crunch in the implementation of the three-language scheme in affiliated schools from 2026-27, but said retired teachers and “suitably qualified postgraduates” can pitch in to teach the different “Bharatiya Bhashas”.
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The CBSE said it has a very “practical and enabling approach” to address the availability of teachers and learning resources for implementation of the language policy.
“Recognising that schools may require time to build full teaching capacity in different Bhartiya Bhashas, the Board has permitted flexible staffing arrangements as an interim measure… It has been suggested that schools may, as an interim measure, engage 25 26 existing teachers with functional proficiency, retired teachers and suitably qualified post-graduates, and may use Sahodaya clusters and virtual/hybrid teaching,” the CBSE said in an affidavit before the Supreme Court.
A three-judge Bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant is scheduled to hear parents and students who have challenged the three-language policy for Class 9. The petitioners, represented by advocate Shraddha Deshmukh, have questioned the injustice of insisting that Class 9 students “suddenly start learning a new language” and even clear internal assessments with Class 10 Board exams looming next year.
But the Board reasoned that out of the 28,848 schools sponsoring Class IX candidates, 47.3% already offer two or more native Indian languages and were fully compliant without the need for any additional teachers. The CBSE said that 99.9% of schools already have at least one Indian language teacher.
In a separate affidavit, the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) said it has already undertaken the preparation, review, vetting, finalisation and dissemination of textbooks in 22 Scheduled languages as part of the implementation of the three-language formula. Learning material in R3 languages for Class 9 has already been brought out for Hindi, Sanskrit, Marathi and Urdu and uploaded on the NCERT website. Learning material for the remaining Scheduled languages would be out by the end of July 2026, the NCERT said.
The Board said the three-language policy was one of the fundamental principles of National Education Policy, 2020 (NEP 2020) and the National Curriculum Framework for School Education, 2023 (NCFSE-2023) to “promote multilingualism and the power of language in teaching and learning”. The Centre’s separate affidavit agreed with the CBSE that the three-language policy served “legitimate public objectives”.
The CBSE affidavit said the petition was misconceived as there was no prohibition on the study of a foreign language. A language other than a native Indian language may either be studied as one of the three languages, provided the other two languages were native Indian languages, or learnt as an additional fourth language.
“The petition wrongly presents a conditional retention of foreign languages as an ‘elimination’,” the CBSE objected.
It said that currently there was no third language (R3) in Class 10 and no Board exam of R3 in Class 10.
“The scheme of studies now offers all 44 languages at any level (Rl/R2/R3), subject only to the Policy requirement that at least two be· native Indian languages The R3 competencies prescribed at the relevant stage are communication competencies, not examination oriented literary competencies,” the CBSE said.
The Board said that students of Class IX (2026-27) were not required to take up any new or additional language.
“The three-language combination remains the very same combination studied by the student in Class 8, one of which is merely designated as the third language,” the CBSE affidavit said.
It said that non-qualification in the school-based assessment in R3 occasioned no detention whatsoever. The student would be promoted to Class 9 in any event. However, the student would need to clear the Class 9 R3 assessment while studying in Class 10.
“Such students are required to clear R3 through the school-based assessment in Class X for the award of the CBSE Secondary School Examination Pass Certificate, and any student unable to qualify in R3 in Class X shall be re-assessed by the school concerned, thereby ensuring that no student is prejudiced or held back on this account,” the CBSE said.
Published – July 14, 2026 12:15 pm IST
