Smriti Vemuri Hyderabad

Inthe context of the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) mandating the three‑language formula from this academic year, the latest Class XII results reveal a troubling picture of language learning in south India. While the policy aims to balance national integration with regional identity, the numbers of those making choices among the languages suggest that learning of south Indian languages is being given the go-by not by others but by students themselves.

The CBSE Class XII results show that only three students wrote the Telugu exam, five the Kannada exam, and 52 the Tamil exam. Kerala stands out with 367 students opting for Malayalam, but even this figure is modest given the hundreds of CBSE‑affiliated schools in the region. Altogether, fewer than 500 students across Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Puducherry, and Kerala chose to take their state language in the final board exam.

For context, the CBSE has made the study of three languages compulsory for students from Class ninth beginning from the first of July this year. In a statement, CBSE said that at least two of the three languages must be native Indian languages, in line with the National Education Policy 2020 and the National Curriculum Framework for School Education 2023. It was clarified that there will be no board examination for the third language (R3) in Class tenth and that all assessments for R3 will be entirely school-based and internal. Further, the board said, the performance of students in R3 will be duly reflected in the CBSE certificate. No student will be barred from appearing in the Class tenth Board Examinations due to R3, it added. Students themselves admit that language choice is often strategic. “I am a child of a Telugu‑speaking couple who grew up in Hyderabad; so, Hindi was chosen as my second language, and Tamil became my inevitable third,” shared one student. Others conceded opting for Sanskrit because it is perceived as easier. At the same time, Hindi’s compulsory status in later years created what one described as a voilà moment — suddenly finding the course effortless due to prior exposure. Continued on Page 7