New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday asked the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) to consider exempting Class 6 students from its three-language policy for the current academic year.

A three-judge bench led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant deferred the hearing on a batch of pleas challenging the CBSE's three-language policy to September 17 and asked the Board to explore the possibility of accommodating Class 6 students in the ongoing academic session.

"Consider Class 6 for this year... If they can be given some accommodation," the bench, also comprising Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana, told Solicitor General Tushar Mehta.

Mehta sought deferment of the hearing as Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati was not available. He assured the court that the officials concerned would consider its suggestion.

"All of us would sit together and revert to your lordship," the law officer said.

The senior counsel for one of the petitioners urged the court not to delay the matter further, saying students would eventually have to take examinations and repeated adjournments were causing anxiety among parents.

The apex court was hearing pleas challenging the CBSE policy mandating the study of three languages, including two native Indian languages, for Class 9 students from July 1.

On August 20, the Supreme Court had stressed the need to find a solution to issues arising from the policy, observing that children should not come under any kind of pressure.

It had said there was nothing wrong with introducing the policy, but the concern was about the manner in which it was being implemented. The bench had also noted the need to build adequate human resource infrastructure for the language options available.

"If you have chosen Class 6 as the starting point, you may consider giving a reprieve to Class 6 students of this year. You can introduce it from next year," it had said.

A senior counsel for one of the petitioners contended that the CBSE had no jurisdiction to frame the curriculum for Classes 6 to 8, saying this was the responsibility of the NCERT.

On May 27, the top court had agreed to examine a plea challenging the policy and issued notices to the Centre, CBSE and NCERT seeking their responses.

According to a CBSE circular, the study of three languages, including at least two native Indian languages, has been made compulsory for Class 9 students from July 1. The move is part of the CBSE's alignment of its scheme of studies with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 and the National Curriculum Framework for School Education (NCF-SE), 2023.

Students opting for a foreign language may do so only as the third language after studying two native Indian languages, or as an additional fourth language, the circular issued on May 15 said.