New Delhi, July 16 -- The Supreme Court on Thursday urged the Centre not to introduce a third language only from Class 9 and observed that doing so places an unnecessary burden on students. The Court suggested that a third language, if required, should instead be introduced from Classes 5 or 6 and discontinued by Class 9.

A bench led by Justice BV Nagarathna and Justice R Mahadevan made the observations while hearing the Tamil Nadu government's appeal against a Madras High Court ruling directing the State to facilitate the establishment of Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas (JNVs) in every district. The State sought additional time, citing the change in government and the need to examine issues including infrastructure and the three-language po...