Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javadekar on Wednesday assured that the decision taken by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) to implement the three-language formula up to Class 10 will not result in one language being imposed on schools.
"I have not gone through the Board's recommendation in detail, but we are not going to impose any language on schools. The three-language formula is currently being implemented across the country, except in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. We are not changing that," Javdekar told the media on Wednesday, when asked whether Sanskrit would be made compulsory in all schools affiliated to the CBSE board.
The National Education Policy states that the three-language formula means students belonging to states that speak Hindi should learn a modern Indian language besides English and Hindi. Similarly, students in non-Hindi-speaking states should be taught Hindi along with English and the language of that particular state.
Most of the 18,000 institutions affiliated to CBSE offer the mother tongue or Hindi, English and one foreign language, like German or Mandarin, till Class 8, the Indian Express reported.
If the rule is implemented, all CBSE-affiliated schools will have to include the three-language formula in their course and also extend it upto Class 10. Schools will be issued a directive with details and timing of the implementation once the government approves the decision.
The HRD Ministry, led by Smriti Irani two years ago, had forced all Kendriya Vidyalaya schools to discontinue teaching German as a third language from Class 6 to Class 8 as it violated the three-language formula. The schools were asked to teach Sanskrit or any other modern Indian language instead. However, German is still taught in KV schools but only as a hobby or an additional language, the daily reported.
Javadekar was also in favour of CBSE's decision to make Class 10 board exams compulsory again from 2018.
"This (opting out of Board exams in Class X) was an anomaly. Why should only CBSE students have the freedom to opt out (of Board exams) when the students elsewhere cannot," the minister said.
