New Delhi, June 29: The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) on Monday issued revised guidelines for implementing its three-language policy, exempting the current batch of Class 10 students from the new requirement while granting a one-time relaxation to students currently studying in Class 9.
Under the revised norms, the present Class 10 batch will not be required to follow the three-language policy. The CBSE also clarified that students currently in Classes 7 to 9 will not have to appear for a board examination in the third language when they reach Class 10.
Announcing the changes, CBSE Academics Director Praggya M. Singh said the current Class 9 batch for the 2026-27 academic session must study three languages, but as a one-time relaxation they may continue with two foreign (non-native) languages and add one Indian language as the third language.
The revised guidelines come more than a month after the CBSE made three-language study compulsory for Class 9 students from July 1, requiring at least two Indian languages. The decision had prompted legal challenges from several students and parents.
In April, the CBSE had announced the phased implementation of the three-language formula from Class 6 and the introduction of a two-level system for Mathematics and Science for Class 9 from the 2026-27 academic session.
Under the proposed framework, Mathematics and Science will be offered at two levels—mandatory standard and optional advanced. All students will take a common 80-mark examination, while those opting for the advanced level will appear for an additional paper designed to assess higher-order thinking and conceptual understanding.
The board had earlier said the first Class 10 board examination under the new two-level system would be conducted in 2028 for students entering Class 9 in the 2026-27 academic session.
On May 15, CBSE had also clarified that students opting for a foreign language could study it only as a third language after learning two Indian languages, or as an additional fourth language. (Agencies)
