Supreme Court questions CBSE three-language policy implementation

The Supreme Court of India has raised several concerns regarding the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) three-language policy, which was implemented under the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. A bench led by Chief Justice Surya Kant is reviewing petitions challenging the policy's application to Class 9 students.

Petitioners argue that the mandate to learn two Indian languages places an undue burden on students, especially when schools lack essential resources. Concerns were raised regarding the shortage of trained teachers and the unavailability of textbooks, with some reports indicating that books were missing even four months into the academic year. Legal counsel Anand Grover noted that many textbooks lack basic foundational material, such as alphabets, making it difficult for students to learn new languages like Punjabi or Tamil from scratch.

The Court also addressed the constitutional status of English, questioning whether it should be classified as a non-indigenous language given its official status in various states. Chief Justice Kant suggested that the policy could be improved rather than scrapped, posing whether it would benefit national integrity if students from North India learned South Indian languages and vice versa. The bench has asked the CBSE to address implementation issues and revisit how the policy is applied to ensure students are not forced to abandon subjects they have already studied.