New Delhi, May 17 -- The Centre and the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) have opposed before the Delhi high court a petition challenging the board's decision to introduce a compulsory regional third language for Class 6 students from the 2026-27 academic session, contending that the policy does not prohibit the teaching of foreign languages and merely prescribes a minimum requirement of two Indian languages under the R1/R2/R3 framework. In its affidavit filed through standing counsel Rukmini Bobde along with advocate Laavanya Kaushik on May 6, the Centre asserted that the circular, issued by CBSE on April 1 and 9 mandating a regional third language from Class 6 beginning with the 2026-27 academic session with seven days, does not prohibit teaching of foreign languages and merely prescribes a minimum requirement of two Indian languages under the R1/R2/R3 framework. It said that the circular was not an "overnight diktat" but the culmination of a six-year policy-making process that began with the release of the National Education Policy, 2020. The Centre argued that the contention that students already possess sufficient proficiency in Hindi and English, and therefore do not require another language, would logically result in the abolition of all third languages, including Sanskrit. The language curriculum has been structured into three levels - R1, R2 and R3. R1 (Language 1) will be the student's primary or strongest language and will be studied at an advanced level, while R2 (Language 2) will be a different language studied at a comparatively lower level....