Teaching jobs at risk from foreign language axe under new NEP framework

Foreign language teachers across India fear job losses as the new CBSE language policy under NEP 2020 reduces space for French, German, Spanish and Japanese in schools

A French language teacher with almost 20 years of experience has just been told by her employers, a top school in Gurugram, to instead start teaching Punjabi, her native language. 

 

“I have a Bachelors and Masters degree in French. It is nearly impossible for me to make a switch now,” she says. “I converse with my parents in Punjabi, but that is my only exposure to the language. If I take it up professionally, the quality will suffer.”  

 

She says her job is at stake because of the central government’s new language curriculum for schools, part of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 and National Curriculum Framework 2023. Students must now learn one foreign and two Indian languages. 

 

But with English being considered a foreign language, schools are left with little room to teach languages like French, German, Spanish and Japanese, threatening thousands of teachers across the country with joblessness.  

 

Most of the foreign language teachers Business Standard spoke to for this story asked not to be named because of the uncertainty surrounding their jobs. 

 

The uncertainty marks a sudden reversal after language courses boomed in the afterglow of economic liberalisation and a massive thrust by young Indians to study, work and live abroad. 

 

In the last two weeks, WhatsApp groups of foreign language teachers have been deluged by a welter of worried messages. 

 

Mobile phones are buzzing with messages like: “I have been asked to reskill to teach other subjects”; “I have been given a few months to look for an alternative job”; “Maybe more hobby periods will be there”; “Let us wait-and-watch”.

 

These conversations were set off by two circulars issued by the Central Board of Secondary Education on April 9 and May 15 about the implementation of the three-language policy in classes 6 and 9 from the 2026-27 academic year. 

 

“Initially, there was no clarity on the status of English, but now it practically ends the scope of any other foreign language,” said a Japanese language teacher based in Delhi.

 

While schools do have the option to offer a foreign language as a fourth language, it will be considered an ‘extra activity’, falling outside the scope of formal academic assessment.

 

“With new subjects like artificial intelligence being introduced, children in any case get barely two hobby classes a week for this and outdoor activities,” said a German teacher in Mumbai. 

 

To be sure, in some schools, accommodative managements have said that even if only 10 students sign up for a foreign language, they will try and offer those classes. “But this can (at best) continue for another year or so. Eventually students will shift. And not all languages can sustain on this model,” she said, adding that French language classes in her school have already been discontinued. 

 

According to Mohit Bhola, a French language teacher in Noida, foreign languages have already started losing meaningful space in schools, even though there is no ban. 

 

“The current structure and implementation process are leading many schools to reduce or practically discontinue foreign languages at the middle and secondary levels,” he said. While the policy applies to classes 6 and 9, some schools are planning to shut it for classes 7 and 8 as well, he said.

 

“Most of the hiring will shift to contractual. Teachers will be asked to come only twice a week and paid accordingly,” said Mritunjay Rathore, founder of Delhi-based coaching institute Spanish with Mritunjay, which also deals with the schools for placements. 

 

“If at all the job remains, the salaries will drop to Rs 20,000-25,000 from around Rs 60,000,” he added. Rathore notes that almost 10 per cent of his students were directly placed in the schools at good salaries. 

 

However, for private institutes providing foreign language coaching, the policy could mean a revenue gain. 

 

“It is a global world and the demand will exist. There are jobs in translation, corporate, global prospects, so yes, we are there for that,” said Tushil Shitole, founder of online foreign language learning platform The Language SKOOL. However, he said, schools built a curiosity at an early age to learn foreign languages, and this layer will go.

 

Also missed – by students and parents alike – will be the exposure to global culture brought by learning a foreign language, including exchange programmes, visits and partnerships with global institutes.