Parliament Question: Three Language Policy

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF EDUCATION DEPARTMENT OF SCHOOL EDUCATION & LITERACY LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1341 ANSWERED ON 08.12.2025 Three Language Policy

1341. Shri Janardan Singh Sigriwal:

Will the Minister of EDUCATION be pleased to state:

(a) whether the three-language formula has been uniformly implemented in the country, if so, the details thereof;

(b) whether there has been any resistance to the inclusion of Hindi or any other language under the three-language policy, if so, the details thereof;

(c) whether the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 has brought any significant changes to the three-language formula, if so, the details thereof;

(d) whether there is any data on the impact of the three-language policy on students' academic performance, if so, the details thereof; and

(e) whether the implementation of the three-language formula poses challenges in terms of teacher availability and training and if so, the details thereof including the steps taken by the Government to address the said issue? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION (SHRI JAYANT CHAUDHARY)

(a) to (e): The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 at para 4.13 provides that the three- language formula will continue to be implemented while keeping in mind the Constitutional provisions, aspirations of the people, regions as well as the Union, and the need to promote multilingualism for promoting national unity. However, there will be a greater flexibility in the three-language formula, and no language will be imposed on any State. The three languages learned by children will be the choices of States, regions, and of course the students themselves, so long as at least two of the three languages are native to India. In particular, students who wish to change one or more of the three languages they are studying may do so in Grade 6 or 7, as long as they are able to demonstrate basic proficiency in three languages (including one language of India at the literature level) by the end of secondary school.

As per NEP 2020, the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has developed the National Curriculum Framework for School Education (NCF-SE) 2023 which inter-alia provides the following:i. Two languages at the foundational and preparatory stage – out of which one is native to India.

ii. Three languages at the middle and secondary stage (Grades 9 & 10) – out of which two are native to India. iii. Two languages at the secondary stage (Grades 11 & 12) – out of which one is native to India.

NEP, 2020 at para 4.12 inter-alia provides that as research clearly shows that children pick up languages extremely quickly between the ages of 2 and 8 and that multilingualism has great cognitive benefits to young students, children will be exposed to different languages early on (but with a particular emphasis on the mother tongue), starting from the Foundational Stage onwards.

NEP 2020 further states that all languages will be taught in an enjoyable and interactive style, with plenty of interactive conversation, with early reading and subsequently writing in the mother tongue in the early years, and with skills developed for reading and writing in other languages in Grade 3 and beyond.

As a follow-up of the NEP 2020, new textbooks developed by the NCERT integrate multilingualism perspective across subject areas. Further, NCERT has translated Grade 1, 2, 3 and 6 textbooks of subject areas into 22 scheduled languages. NCERT has also developed primers in 121 languages.

NEP, 2020 also provides that there will be a major effort from both the Central and State Governments to invest in large numbers of language teachers in all regional languages around the country, and, in particular, for all languages mentioned in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution of India. States may enter into bilateral agreements to hire teachers in large numbers from each other, to satisfy the three-language formula in their respective States, and also to encourage the study of Indian languages across the country. Extensive use of technology will be made for teaching and learning of different languages and to popularize language learning.

Further, since Education is a subject under the Concurrent List of the Constitution, the respective State and Union Territory (UT) Governments may decide on the modalities of implementing the Three Language Policy, in accordance with the spirit and recommendations of the NEP, 2020.

The Policy emphasizes the promotion of multilingualism and encourages States/UTs to adopt the Three Language Formula in a flexible manner, keeping in view local needs, linguistic diversity, and implementation feasibility.

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