The Supreme Court, through its frequent interventions, is pointing to the various aspects of the three-language policy that the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) does not seem to have thought through. Regardless of its eventual judgment, the Court’s intent at this stage seems to be to point to the pitfalls of the policy and at least soften the rough edges. In its latest ruling, the Court has said that current Class 6 students should be given the same relief as students in Classes 7, 8 and 9, whose final Class 10 examination will only be an internal assessment, not a Board examination. The Court is seeking to lessen the load on the students, at least until schools are fully prepared. It had earlier asked if the policy could start from 2027, not 2026. The CBSE has stubbornly resisted compromise at various stages in the hearing. Earlier, the Court had intervened to point out that suddenly learning a new language in Class 9 would be too disruptive if the students had not studied a second “Indian” language until Class 8. The Court had also mooted careful consideration of treating English as indigenous, putting its categorisation as a foreign language under question.

English is a de facto Indian language. It has been in use in India for at least 300 years and is the leading language of education, courts, and professions widely practised by Indians; it also serves as the preferred link language for many. English knowledge has consistently given Indians an edge in employment in global industries such as the IT sector. Indians will want English to remain one of their unique selling points as the government looks to jobs in global industries as a pathway to prosperity. The National Education Policy 2020, though advocating for two Indian languages, also mentions the importance of learning foreign languages to facilitate the global mobility of Indians seeking employment. ’s reportage has shown that since English is the language of instruction in other subjects, it will become the only so-called foreign language students will take in CBSE schools. Many schools will stick to Sanskrit as the second Indian language all the way up to Class 10 while Hindi would be the first. Some schools, especially in the southern States, will continue with the regional language such as Tamil or Kannada as the other Indian language. The practical consequence of the current policy is removing Spanish, French and other foreign languages from schools. But any purported intent of promoting cross-regional language learning may just not be served though the Court has found merit in learning more Indian languages as a way of strengthening the federal structure. A strenuous learning of an additional Indian language serves little practical purpose though it may cater to the atavistic impulses of some. The two-language policy — English and mother tongue — would be best for India. Students can be tested on a third language of their choice through internal assessment, not through a Board examination.