The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has formally made the study of three languages compulsory for students from Class 9 onwards, beginning July 1, 2026.
“With effect from 1st July 2026, for Class IX, the study of three languages (R1, R2, R3) shall be compulsory, with at least two languages being native Indian languages,” a circular issued by the CBSE stated.
However, the board has clarified that there will be no Board examination for the third language (R3) in Class 10. The third language subject will be internally assessed by schools in a bid to reduce any undue pressure on students preparing for board exams.
“All assessments for R3 shall be entirely school-based and internal. The performance of students in R3 will be duly reflected in the CBSE certificate,” it said.
In the circular issued on May 15, the Board has also said that at least two of the three languages must be native Indian languages, in line with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 and the National Curriculum Framework for School Education (NCF-SE) 2023.
The languages in which Class VI R3 Textbooks are being developed by CBSE/NCERT include Assamese, Bengali, Bodo, Dogri, Gujarati, Kannada, Kashmiri, Konkani, Maithili, Malayalam, Manipuri, Marathi, Odia and Punjabi.
Santhali, Sindhi, Tamil, Andhra Pradesh Telugu AP and Telangana Telugu are the other languages that will be compulsorily taught to the students.
Moreover, Nepali has also been included in the list.
Until secondary stage textbooks are made available, students of Class 9 would temporarily use Class 6 R3 textbooks for the chosen language.
schools can also offer foreign languages as a fourth language through reading clubs.