Guwahati, May 17 -- Central Board of Secondary Education has announced that studying three languages will become mandatory for students of Class IX from July 1, 2026. However, the board clarified that there will be no Class X board examination for the third language.

In a circular issued on May 15, the CBSE stated that the move aligns with the provisions of the National Education Policy 2020 and the National Curriculum Framework for School Education (NCF-SE) 2023. Under the revised policy, students will be required to study three languages -R1, R2 and R3 with at least two of them being native Indian languages.

The board said the third language will not be part of the Class X board examination process in order to reduce academic pressure...