Sanskrit, Urdu and Punjabi in class IX, X: Delhi HC issues notices

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday issued notice to the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), Centre and Delhi Government on a plea challenging move to stop offering Sanskrit, Punjabi and Urdu as the third language in classes IX and X.

Earlier on April 18, a plea has been moved in the High Court challenging the Aam Admi Party (AAP) government's education policy under which vocational subjects would replace languages like Sanskrit as the sixth compulsory subject at the secondary level.

The Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by a society claims that the decision, which would be applicable on government schools, would result in extinction of languages like Urdu, Sanskrit and Punjabi.

It also challenges a CBSE circular, which has re-modelled the scheme of assessment for class X for schools, enrolled under the National Skills Qualifications Framework (NSQF).

In such schools, students have to compulsorily study a sixth subject, which would be a vocational subject, along with the five core subjects of two languages, social science, mathematics and science.

The CBSE offers two streams in class X - vocational and academic.

Those opting for the academic stream have to study the five subjects and have an option to choose an additional sixth subject.

However, those opting for the vocational stream will have to compulsorily study the sixth subject under NSQF.

The NSQF, notified in India in 2013, is a competency-based framework that organizes all qualifications according to a series of levels of knowledge, skills and aptitude.