NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has directed that students currently studying in Class 6 under the CBSE board be granted the same exemption from the mandatory three-language policy as students of Classes 7, 8 and 9.
The direction came after the Centre told the court that it was not inclined to exempt Class 6 students from the policy this year. The Centre also submitted that nearly 99 per cent of CBSE schools had adopted the third-language policy and had the necessary facilities, with only around 1.2 per cent of schools affected.
The court, however, said Class 6 students should have the same “comfort” that had been extended to students of Class 7 and directed that the policy be implemented for them from April 1, 2027.
The Supreme Court said the present Class 6 batch should be given the same exemption as students of Class 7. It also said the larger issue concerning the mandatory language requirement would be considered by the court.
The Solicitor General, Tushar Mehta, told the court that the government was not inclined to exempt Class 6 students from the policy from this year.
“We had detailed discussions. We are not inclined to exempt Class 6 from this year onwards. They should pursue it from this year itself,” he said.
The Centre also told the court that out of around 2,800 schools, the latest Class 6 data showed that only 1.2 per cent of schools were affected. The Supreme Court, however, directed that the students currently in Class 6 be given the same exemption as Class 7 students.
“The Solicitor General of India has submitted that about 99% of the schools have adopted the third-language policy and have been provided the necessary facilities, and only about 1.2% of the schools have not.
“In light of this, we direct that students of Class 6, like the students of Class 7, may be granted the same exemption as has been granted to students of Class 7,” the order stated.
During the hearing, the court raised concerns about introducing the new language framework midway for students who had already chosen their languages.
CJI Surya Kant suggested that a committee of senior officers could reach out to petitioner schools and understand the difficulties they were facing.
“Why don’t you do one thing? Appoint a committee of very responsible senior officers. Let the committee reach out to these petitioner schools, or the petitioners, and find out the issues,” he said.
We are a multimedia news network. Website : www.7xnews.com Based in New Delhi (India)
Youtube : umakantlakheraspeaks@gmail.com
