The Supreme Court on Thursday expressed concern over the decision of introducing a compulsory third language from class 9 under the new curriculum. During the hearing, Justice B V Nagarathna observed that it places unnecessary stress on students preparing for board examinations.
This observation came during the hearing of the Tamil Nadu government’s appeal against a Madras High Court direction to facilitate the establishment of Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas (JNVs) in every district of the state. During the hearing, the state’s counsel stated that Tamil Nadu government’s objection is linked to the three-language policy.
Questioning the timing of introducing the three-language policy, Justice B V Nagarathna questioned why this implementation cannot begin from class 6. “Ninth standard is stressful. Why do you introduce a new language in 9th? You introduce it in 6th.”
Justice Nagarathna added, “Union of India, please don’t have third language in 9th standard. CBSE, ICSE, State Board, 10th standard is a board exam. From the end of 8th standard onwards, the pressure starts.” However, Justice Nagarathna also observed that the policy did not mandate Hindi as the third language.
“The State language has to be taught, English has to be taught and any third language. It doesn’t say Hindi,” she stated.
Adv G Priyadarshini, the counsel for the respondent (the NGO petitioner in High Court), pointed out that the National Education Policy specifically provides that no language should be imposed on any State.
Justice Nagarathna then asked the Tamil Nadu government, “You don’t want Hindi, but if it’s Sanskrit, what is the issue?” The state’s counsel responded that the concern was that the third language becomes compulsory only from Class 9.
Drawing from her own experience, Justice Nagarathna recalled that students were taught a new language from middle school, and not from class 9. “In the middle school the third language was started because that was required for SSLC… Sanskrit was also there, so you could have third language. The earlier, the better,” she observed.
She also recalled that during her schooling age, students were introduced to concepts that were important for class 10 from class 8 onwards as preparation for board exams, so adding a new language in class 9 would not be the best idea. “So if we had that kind of preparation and all, what about today’s students? Don’t start a new language in 9th. Start it in 6th… I’m recalling my experience from 1976,” she said.
This hearing comes two days after CJI Bench had admitted few petitions challenging three-language policy and issued notice to CBSE and the Ministry of Education (MoE).