Supreme Court Raises Class 6 Third-Language Issue, Asks CBSE To Consider Exemption

September 28, 2026

New Delhi : Supreme Court (SC) 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 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 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.

“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. “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.

He told the court that students who had been studying particular subjects and languages from Class 4 were now being asked to switch languages. The lawyers appearing for the parents told the Supreme Court that the sudden change in the mandatory language requirement was affecting students’ education. They also raised concerns over the availability of textbooks, saying that despite the Centre’s affidavit, the books were not available online earlier and that the textbooks were still not physically available to students.