Punjab sees red over CBSE’s proposed Class 10 policy, sparking trouble for Punjabi language.

A political row erupted in Punjab Wednesday after the Punjabi language was allegedly “removed” as a subject in the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE)’s draft policy for the proposed Dual Board Exams for Class 10 from 2025-26 session under the National Education Policy (NEP), 2020. The policy proposes that class-10 board exams will be held twice a year 2026 onwards, in order to give a chance to students to improve their scores and reduce the pressure.

However, the Punjabi language was not just found “missing” from the list of regional languages in the draft document, but also allegedly “removed” from the list of five main subjects. Cutting across the party lines, the politicians blamed Centre for “direct attack” on Punjab’s identity and culture, with AAP leader and state education minister Harjot Singh Bains calling it a “deliberate attempt” by the BJP to undermine the status of Punjabi. The Congress and SAD also blamed Punjab CM  for “remaining silent”. However, CBSE was quick to issue an addendum stating that Punjabi and other regional languages will continue to be offered as before. However, the trouble for Punjabi, according to educationists and teachers in Punjab, is much deeper in the new draft policy.According to the CBSE’s secondary school curriculum 2024-25 (the latest before 2026 dual exam draft came), the class 10 students were studying five compulsory subjects or informally “main” subjects- Language 1, Language 2, Social Science, Maths and Science. Apart from these five, students were also allowed to opt for additional third language and skill-based subjects.Of the two compulsory languages (L1 and L2), one had to be either English or Hindi and the second could be any from the list of 40 regional languages offered by the board, including Punjabi. The students were also free to opt Hindi as second language but not mandatorily.

owever, students of all CBSE-affiliated schools in Punjab have to study Punjabi as one of two main languages up to class 10 by default.

This is because the Punjab Learning of Punjabi and Other Languages Act, 2008, makes it mandatory for all schools to teach Punjabi as compulsory subject from classes 1 to 10. The law also empowers the government to act against erring schools.

So, in Punjab, students mostly opted for English as Language-1 and Punjabi as Language-2 (two main subjects) and Hindi as Language-3 (additional).

The new CBSE draft proposing dual exams for class 10 from 2026 has proposed five main subjects as: English (Language 1), Hindi (Language 2), science, maths and social science. The draft prima facie indicates that Punjabi (or broadly regional languages) is no more among main five subjects and only optional if a student wants to study Language-3 and appear for an additional exam.

According to the draft, the “regional and foreign languages” will now be clubbed in a single group. The draft also adds that while the exam for “science, maths, social science, Hindi and English” will be conducted on fixed, separate days as currently, the ones for “regional and foreign languages will be done in one go on a single day.” This practically means that a student shall appear for Punjabi and French exam on the same day, hence limiting the time for preparation and dividing the student’s attention.

What further fueled the controversy Wednesday was that even the mention of Punjabi language was missing from the list of regional languages in the draft. While the languages such as Thai, Telugu, Japanese, French, Kashmiri, Marathi, Gujarati etc were mentioned in the document, Punjabi was missing.

A school principal“So the new draft primarily indicates that students have to study Hindi and English as compulsory languages now. Till now, one main language had to be either English or Hindi and the second could be any regional language or also Hindi. But if this draft is implemented, then students in Punjab will be appearing in three language exams- English and Hindi as mandated by the board, and Punjabi as mandated by state’s law. Till now, students mostly used to study English and Punjabi as two main languages and some took Hindi as additional. But since the state civil services exams also mandate clearance in Punjabi, more opted for Punjabi than Hindi among two mandatory languages.”