NEW DELHI: In what is going to make millions of them breathe easy, students returning to schools after the summer break in July will not be forced into an abrupt language switch midway through schooling. Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan told TOI on Thursday that the requirement of studying two Indian languages under the three-language policy will begin with Class 6 and progress gradually, instead of being applied retrospectively to students already in Classes 7, 8 and 9 in CBSE schools.This means students who had opted for two foreign languages under the existing system can continue with their current combination until their Class 10 board examination, which for Class 7 would be in 2030 and for Class 9 in 2028. CBSE is expected to issue an amended order after deliberations in its governing council.This answers a concern schools and parents raised after CBSE asked affiliated schools to roll out the policy from July. The fear was that a student who had studied a foreign language for years could suddenly be told to drop it in Class IX for an Indian one — which would have meant academic stress for children and operational strain for schools.Pradhan said the board’s earlier communication had not clearly spelt out the transition for students already in the system. “CBSE could not give a clear order,” he said, adding that the ambiguity would now be removed. “No child will face any difficulty. Those already studying two foreign languages will be allowed to continue till they pass Class X,” he said, adding that the policy would apply from Class 6 and then advance with each cohort.Under the National Education Policy 2020, students from classes VI to VIII are expected to study three languages. Pradhan said this was already the norm across most school boards in the country. Of India’s nearly 25 crore school students, he said, about 90% study three languages, and barring CBSE and Tamil Nadu, most boards follow the pattern up to Class X. Within CBSE, nearly 99% already study two Indian languages; only about 1.3% have combinations involving two foreign languages — the group now left untouched.Students now entering Class VI will study three languages, of which two will have to be Indian languages.Pradhan said class-appropriate books in 22 Indian languages would be made available, and issues relating to teachers and resources would have to be addressed by CBSE. “This is CBSE’s challenge, not the country’s challenge, not the state board’s challenge,” he said. Class-appropriate textbooks in 22 languages would be ready on time, he said, easing confusion over books, teachers and timelines that had reached the courts.A fourth language stays optional, and nothing in the policy bars foreign languages. The insistence, Pradhan said, is only on Indian languages anchoring schooling, part of a wider push to pull the country out of what he called a colonised mindset.Besides the language question, there is now a parallel push on skills. From classes VI to VIII, vocational exposure is compulsory, with schools required to spend 110 hours a year on skill modules and set up composite skill labs. In classes IX and X, a skill subject such as Kaushal Vikas is mandatory, to be assessed through internal marks and boards; in classes XI and XII, it will stay elective but is going to be pushed hard.CBSE officials said that the Board is also examining whether a foreign language can be taken in lieu of the compulsory vocational subject up to Class X. However, this remains under discussion.
