Senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, expressing concerns over the mandatory implementation of the three-language policy for Class IX students by CBSE in the middle of the current session, urging him to postpone it.
Singh, who is also the Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Education, Women, Children, Youth and Sports, said the sudden implementation of the policy in the middle of the session without adequate availability of teachers, textbooks or a transition period, is likely to lead to serious disruption, “unlike the chaos we witnessed during the hasty implementation of CBSE’s On-Screen Marking (OSM) system”.
“I am sending herewith a statement I have received from a group of concerned parents of CBSE students of Class IX, opposing the mandatory implementation of the three-language policy in the middle of the current session,” Singh said in his letter to Modi.
“After reviewing the representation, I find that the concerns raised are genuine and deserve immediate attention. Abrupt implementation of this policy in the middle of the session – without adequate teachers, textbooks or transition time is likely to lead to serious disruption, unlike the chaos witnessed during CBSE’s hasty implementation of On-Screen Marking (OSM) system, which adversely affected thousands of students across the country,” the Congress leader said.
Moreover, Singh said, it has been brought to his attention that the CBSE Board in its December 2025 meeting had endorsed the Curriculum Committee’s recommendation that “schools should continue with the existing scheme of studies, especially with respect to language, till the release of graded textbooks for languages by NCERT”.
Despite its board’s decision, the Central Board of Secondary Education issued a circular on May 15, 2026, requesting implementation of third language education in Class IX from July 1, 2026, the Rajya Sabha MP said.
NCERT is yet to release graded textbooks for the language, so CBSE has recommended using NCERT class VI textbooks, he said.
He said it is not clear how and why CBSE clearly overturned its board’s decision, in a way that threatens the academic planning of thousands of schools across the country.
Singh said the situation is particularly untenable for students in the southern and northeastern states, where Hindi is not spoken and local tribal languages may not appear in the list of languages recognized by CBSE.
He said Sanskrit has emerged as a popular choice of third language for many schools, but it should also be noted that there is an acute shortage of qualified Sanskrit teachers and appropriate textbooks, a situation that would defeat the very purpose of promoting this beautiful language.
“Above all other considerations, my respectful recommendation is to suspend implementation of this policy for current ninth grade students immediately,” Singh said in his June 5 letter.
He said: “I understand that the matter is subject to the judiciary, but the ruling of the honorable court will not be issued until July 15, 2026. This is after the date on which schools are supposed to implement third language education (i.e. July 1, 2026).”
“Therefore, I fervently hope that the matter will receive your urgent and sympathetic attention for the benefit of millions of students whose academic future depends on sound and well-prepared political decisions,” the Congress leader said.
Singh had also written to Prime Minister Modi a few days ago on the issue of NEET-UG paper leakage, urging the government to issue a white paper documenting cases of paper leakage or irregularities in examinations conducted by NTA in the last eight years and action taken on the same.
Singh had said that at a time when thousands of students are under intense pressure, it is crucial to boost their confidence in the system.
The NEET (UG) 2026 exam, which was held by NTA on May 3, was canceled on May 12 amid allegations of paper leak, which is now being investigated by the CBI.
The re-examination is scheduled for June 21.
