CHENNAI: The governing body of the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) on Tuesday recommended that purely foreign languages like German and Spanish should be taught only as an elective fourth language.
This move comes in the backdrop of a high-level expert committee, constituted for the development of Sanskrit, suggesting the Centre to introduce Sanskrit as a subject for all students CBSE and ICSE schools across the country.
A proposal based on this suggestion in the draft New Education Policy released by Centre two months ago faced stiff opposition from various non-Hindi speaking states including TN.
Sources added that the Board of Governors meet which was convened on Tuesday also recommended the Human Resources Ministry to make Board exams mandatory for Class X students. At present, these exams are optional. This move was already being mulled, with the Union HRD Minister Prakash Javedkar indicating it earlier this year.
However, students currently in Class X will continue as per the current format where both the school-based and board-based options will be open. The recommendations suggest that the Board has stuck to the controversial decision of former Union HRD minister Smriti Irani, who had dropped German language from Central Schools.
Emerging from the meeting, R K Chaturvedi, chairperson, CBSE said it has been unanimously decided by the members of the governing body to make it mandatory for all to take board examinations for Class X. Javedkar and Tamil Nadu School Education Minister K Pandiarajan were unavailable for comment. (With input from Sanjay Singh, Delhi)