Supreme Court
A television journalist sets his camera inside the premises of the Supreme Court in New Delhi.Reuters

In the latest development regarding the language row concerning schools, the Centre has told the Supreme Court that Sanskrit will be the third language from standards six to eight.

The latest buildup comes on the back of a decision taken by the Human Resource Ministry which states that German will no longer be offered as an alternative third language in Kendriya Vidyalayas.

The government said that German can be studied as an additional language or a hobby along with Sanskrit, reports NDTV.

Minister of Human Resource Development, Smriti Irani, had earlier asked the authorities to stop teaching students German as the third language and stick to Sanskrit at the 99th meeting of the Board of Governors of the Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan.

Irani argued that teaching German as a third language violates the three-language formula enunciated in the National Policy of Education, 1986, reports India Today.

The decision is set to affect over 70,000 students across 500 Kendriya Vidyalayas studying in classes 6 to 8, who will have to switch their third language from German to Sanskrit or any other "modern Indian language" with immediate effect.

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