DARBHANGA, June 30 -- The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has developed a Class 6 textbook for Maithili which has been implemented as an R3 language for school students under National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. The textbook, which will soon be published, is set to be introduced from the 2026-27 academic session to strengthen multilingual education and foster an appreciation of India's rich linguistic and cultural diversity, sources familiar with the development said on Monday. Under the three-language formula adopted by Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), students are required to study three languages from Class 6 onwards, with at least two being Indian languages. Under the new framework, the languages are categorised as R1, R2 and R3. R1 is the primary language of learning, R2 is a second language different from R1, while R3 is distinct from both R1 and R2. Maithili will be offered as an R3 language, joining 19 other languages for which NCERT publishes textbooks. The CBSE has already clarified that the third language (R3) will not be assessed in the Class 10 board examination. Instead, assessment of the subject will be conducted internally by schools. The Class 6 Maithili textbook has been prepared by an expert committee on the basis of the R3 syllabus developed by NCERT. It has undergone academic scrutiny and review by the apex body to ensure alignment with the curricular vision of the National Curriculum Framework for School Education (NCF-SE) 2023, officials said. In keeping with NCERT's practice of assigning culturally rooted names to its R3 language textbooks, the Maithili textbook is also expected to be named after a river associated with the Mithila region, such as "Kamala" or "Bagmati", according to sources. The development has been welcomed by Maithili language scholars and cultural activists who have described it as a significant recognition of the language and an important step towards promoting multilingual education under the NEP framework. Explaining the rationale behind the naming convention, NCERT recently said in a pinned post on its official X handle that its language textbooks are named after major Indian rivers. It noted that the Hindi textbook is titled Ganga, the English textbook Kaveri, the Urdu textbook Jamuna (Yamuna), and the Kannada textbook Krishna, named after one of Karnataka's major rivers. The council had said that the naming reflects India's shared natural and cultural heritage rather than any linguistic or regional preference....