The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) released new guidelines on Thursday urging all affiliated schools to prioritize the use of the mother tongue or a locally familiar regional language as the main medium of instruction for young learners, starting with the 2025–26 academic year. This is part of the New Curriculum (NCF-2023), which follows the ideas of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
What is the CBSE's New Guidelines Outline?
Emphasis on the Mother Tongue – R1
The CBSE stresses that early education should be delivered in the language most familiar to the child, ideally the mother tongue. This language, referred to as R1, should serve as both the instructional language and the basis for literacy development in all subjects. The goal is to strengthen foundational reading and comprehension by using the child’s native linguistic and cultural context.
However, if using the mother tongue isn't practical due to factors such as a linguistically diverse classroom or the absence of a written script, the directive allows for R1 to be a commonly understood State language, as long as the child is familiar with it.
Introduction of a Second Language – R2
Alongside R1, children will gradually be exposed to a second spoken language, R2, which helps in encouraging the development of multilingual abilities. Despite this, formal literacy milestones during the foundational years (ages 3–8; Pre-primary to Grade 2) will be focused solely on R1.
By the end of Grade 2, students should be capable of reading fluently, understanding written content in R1, and writing basic sentences about their daily lives and experiences.
Medium of Instruction for the Preparatory Stage
For Grades 3 to 5 (Preparatory Stage), schools must offer at least one Indian language as an option for the medium of instruction up through Grade 12. If the main language of instruction is not native to India, schools are required to ensure that a native Indian language option is available to students from Grade 3 onward.
Support for Students with Special Needs
CBSE has confirmed that it will follow the rules of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016, and that schools must make necessary changes in teaching and exams to support students with disabilities. These accommodations include extended exam durations, access to scribes, and exemptions from learning a second and third language, in accordance with Clause 17(i) of Chapter III.
