Over 18,000 schools affiliated to the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) will have to implement the three-language formula up to Class X, the Board’s Governing Body resolved on Tuesday. Currently, schools are meant to follow this up to Class VIII.

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) on Tuesday approved a proposal to reintroduce compulsory Class X board examination from the 2017-18 academic year. 

The decision was taken during a meeting of the CBSE governing body in New Delhi, sources said, adding that the first exam will be conducted in 2018.

The Class X board examination for CBSE schools was made optional by the Congress government from 2011 under the Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE) system mandated by the Right to Education Act. 

Under the National Education Policy, the three-language formula means students in Hindi-speaking states should learn a modern Indian language, apart from Hindi and English and, in non-Hindi-speaking states, they should learn Hindi along with the regional language and English.