Vocational Education: The CBSE’s new school curriculum, released on Thursday, shows that a third language will be mandatory in Class 6 starting with the 2026-27 academic session. With every student expected to study at least two Indian languages, this move helps the Board lay the foundation to include a third language as a compulsory subject in the 2031 Class 10 Board examinations.
The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 suggests that students learn three languages up to Class 10, in contrast to the existing system, which allows them to study only two languages.
CBSE Chairman Rahul Singh mentioned that a third language, R3, isn’t mandatory for Class 9 students yet. At the launch of the new secondary school curriculum, he said, “R3 level textbooks start in Class 6 this year. These students take boards in 2031; that’s when the plan changes and the ‘Three-Language Formula’ is fully in implemented.”
It was reported by a source that under the ‘Three-Language Formula’, which mandates the study of at least two Indian languages, students appearing for the Class 10 board examinations in 2031 will be unable to take exams in both English and a foreign language (as a second or third language).
The source elaborated that this is due to English now being classified as a foreign language, and the new curriculum allowing for the study of only one foreign language. The source added that the study material for R3, prepared by the CBSE, is likely to be available online this month.
Vocational Education Essential in Classes 9-10
Alongside the new curriculum, the Board is also making Art Education, Vocational Education, and Physical Education compulsory for Classes 9 and 10. Textbooks for Art Education and Physical Education are set to be submitted. In the current academic session, school-based assessments for Art and Physical Education will be conducted for Class 10 students.
In the 2027, 28 academic session, Vocational Education will become a compulsory subject for them to be assessed alongside the annual or Board examinations, while Art and Physical Education will continue to be evaluated through school-based internal examinations.
