Supreme Court to Hear Plea Against CBSE’s Three-Language Rule
May 27, 2026
The Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed to examine a petition challenging the CBSE’s new policy that makes the study of three languages compulsory for Class 9 students.
A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M. Pancholi issued notices to the Centre, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), and the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT), seeking their responses within two weeks.
Under a recent CBSE circular, Class 9 students will be required to study three languages from July 1, including at least two Indian languages. The policy has been introduced as part of the board’s efforts to align its curriculum with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 and the National Curriculum Framework for School Education (NCF-SE) 2023.
The petition challenges the mandatory implementation of the three-language formula, arguing that it may place an additional academic burden on students and raise concerns over linguistic choice.
