Overview
- CBSE issued implementation guidelines on July 10, 2026 that designate the third language (R3) as a school‑assessed qualifying subject and require students entering Class 10 in 2027‑28 to pass R3 to receive the Secondary School Examination pass certificate.
- For the current Class 9 cohort R3 will be judged only through internal school assessment with no Class 10 Board exam, and students who fail in Class 9 will be promoted but must clear R3 during Class 10 with a school‑run reassessment offered before final results.
- In affidavits to the Supreme Court the board said 47.3% of its 28,848 affiliated schools already offer two or more Indian languages and 99.19% have at least one Indian‑language teacher, and it authorised interim staffing measures such as retired teachers, suitably qualified postgraduates and virtual teaching.
- Parents and foreign‑language teachers have filed writ petitions saying the board reversed an earlier deferral and left schools without adequate textbooks and trained staff, and the Supreme Court began hearing those challenges on Tuesday, July 14, 2026.
- NCERT told the court it has prepared or is finalising textbooks and R3 learning resources in 22 scheduled Indian languages and the Centre frames the move as part of NEP 2020’s drive to expand multilingual learning, a shift likely to change how languages are taught and certified across CBSE schools.