Overview
- The Supreme Court on July 14 issued notices to the Centre, CBSE and NCERT and declined an immediate stay while asking the agencies to file detailed replies within a specified time frame.
- CBSE told the court that 47.3% of its 28,848 affiliated schools already teach two or more Indian languages to Class 9 students and that 99.19% of schools have at least one Indian‑language teacher.
- Petitions from parents and foreign‑language teachers say the May 15 circular abruptly reversed an earlier deferral, lacks statutory authority and forces schools to operate without enough textbooks, trained staff or a clear assessment model.
- Supreme Court justices voiced that introducing a new compulsory language in Class 9 would add avoidable pressure on students and suggested the third language should be introduced earlier in middle school.
- The Ministry, CBSE and NCERT have cited transitional measures including June 29 and July 10 guidelines, internal school assessment for the current R3 batch, NCERT work on textbooks in 22 Scheduled Languages and a High‑Powered Task Force to speed materials and teacher support.