The Supreme Court on Thursday expresses concern about the CBSE proposal to introduce a third language from Class 9 onwards. During a hearing, a bench of Justices B.V. Nagarathna and R. Mahadevan orally asked the Union government not to implement the third-language change at the Class 9 level. Justice Nagarathna told the Centre that adding another language would unnecessarily increase students’ stress, pointing to the academic pressure that begins around Class 8 as students approach board-exam-related demands.
The bench suggested that if the government wishes to introduce a new language, it should consider starting earlier, such as Class 5 or Class 6, to allow students time to adapt. The remarks were made during proceedings connected with a Tamil Nadu government plea challenging a Madras High Court direction related to the establishment of “Jawahar …” institutions. Other outlets report the same bench and the same core request to the Centre, including the observation that Class 9 is already a period of heightened stress for students.
