The Supreme Court on Wednesday directed the Centre and the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) to consider extending to the current Class 6 students the exemption from the three-language framework already granted to students of Class 7. The direction came during a hearing before a bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V. Mohana. The matter concerns the implementation of the CBSE's three-language policy for students in Class 6.

The court had earlier asked the CBSE to consider implementing the policy, which requires students to study three languages, including two Indian languages, from the academic session beginning in 2027. The CBSE had also clarified that students currently studying in Classes 7, 8 and 9 would not have to appear for a board examination in the third language when they reach Class 10. The Supreme Court's latest direction seeks similar accommodation for the present Class 6 batch.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta and Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati, appearing for the Centre and CBSE, told the court that nearly 99 per cent of CBSE-affiliated schools had adopted the third-language policy and had the required facilities. The government maintained that only around 1.2 per cent of schools faced implementation-related difficulties and opposed exempting the current Class 6 batch from the policy for this academic year.

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During the hearing, Justice Bagchi suggested that implementation for students already in Class 6 could be deferred until 2027, giving schools additional time to arrange qualified teachers, textbooks and other resources. Chief Justice Surya Kant also suggested forming a committee of senior officials to directly engage with schools and petitioners facing difficulties. However, senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, appearing for the petitioners, opposed another committee and argued that the matter required a clear decision.

The dispute stems from the CBSE's decision to align its scheme of studies with the National Education Policy, 2020 and the National Curriculum Framework for School Education, 2023. Under the framework, students are required to study three languages, with at least two classified as Indian or "Bhartiya Bhashas". The CBSE has included languages such as Hindi, Sanskrit, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Bengali, Punjabi, Gujarati, Odia and Assamese in this category, while English, French, German, Arabic and Spanish are listed as non-native languages.

The Supreme Court has posted the pleas for further hearing after six weeks and directed the CBSE to file its reply affidavit within four weeks, followed by any rejoinder within two weeks. The court's direction comes amid the continuing dispute over how the three-language framework should apply to students who have already progressed through their existing language choices. In one example cited by the petitioners, students at Delhi Public School who had studied Spanish from Class 4 were shifted to Sanskrit under the new framework.

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