Parents, students challenge CBSE three-language rule for Class 9

Parents and students approached the Supreme Court on Friday, May 22, 2026, for an urgent hearing against the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) policy making the study of three languages ​​compulsory for Class 9 students from July 1.

Appearing before the bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi asked the following question on behalf of the petitioners: How 9th grade students would “suddenly start learning a new language” Class 10 Board exam is coming up next year.

Mr Rohatgi said there was clear distress among students who were already weighed down by academic load and peer pressure.

Senior counsel requested a hearing on Monday, May 25. The petition will be listed before the appropriate Bench next week, the CJI said.

The three-language rule was announced with the May 15 circular published by the Board on May 15.

The circular said that at least two of the three languages ​​should be indigenous Indian languages.

The circular stated that the rule is a part of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 and the National Curriculum Framework for School Education (NCF-SE) 2023.

CBSE had announced that there would be no Board exam for third language in Class 10.

“All assessments for R3 (third language) will be entirely school-based and in-house. Students’ performance in R3 will be duly reflected in the CBSE certificate,” the board said in the circular.

CBSE said schools can offer any language but at least two of them must be Indian languages. Foreign languages ​​can only be taken as a third or optional fourth language.