Overview
- The CBSE circular, issued Thursday, directs all affiliated schools to begin a third language (R3) in Class 6 within seven days and to start now using local books until official textbooks arrive.
- Schools must select their R3 language, inform the CBSE regional office, and record the choice on the OASIS portal, with regional officials assigned to monitor compliance.
- Only languages introduced as R3 in Class 6 will be available to that school’s students in Classes 9 and 10, and R3 will be evaluated by school-based assessment in 2031 rather than a board exam.
- The mandate implements the NCFSE‑2023 three‑language model, which begins in Class 6 and requires that at least two of the three languages be Indian languages to foster multilingual learning.
- Tamil Nadu’s chief minister calls the move linguistic imposition, the union education minister rejects that claim as a misread of a flexible policy, and schools and parents warn of teacher shortages, costs, and extra workload.