Mumbai: The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has decided to introduce a three-language policy, including Sanskrit, till class X in all its affiliated schools. Experts, school principals and students have said that this constitutes a good move. CBSE’s governing body on Tuesday approved restoring the class X board examinations from the next academic session, after a gap of seven years.
There are approximately 63 schools affiliated to CBSE in Mumbai. A majority of the affiliated institutions offer the mother tongue or Hindi, English and a foreign language, such as German or Mandarin, up to class VIII. All schools would now not only have to implement the three-language formula in letter and spirit, but also extend it up to class X. A directive, which includes finer details and the timing of the implementation, would be issued to the schools as soon as the government ratifies the move.
Talking to The Asian Age, Prashant Reddy, general sectary, Mumbai Principals Association, said, “Under the national education policy, the three-language formula means students in Hindi-speaking states should learn a modern Indian language, apart from Hindi and English, and the mother tongue in non Hindi-speaking states,” he said
Snigdha Joshi, a student in a Thane-based CBSE school, said, “It is a new thing, but we welcome the move as it would help us score more since it is a language subject.” The examinations for 2017-18 would be conducted in March 2018. While 80 per cent weightage would be for the board exam, 20 per cent would be based on internal tests.
