A minimum of one dose of Sanskrit is required for classes 6 and 9 in Kendriya Vidyalayas
There are currently 1,288 functional Kendriya Vidyalayas across India, along with three operating in Moscow, Kathmandu and Tehran. File | Photo credit: The Hindu
Every Kendriya Vidyalaya (KV) must maintain at least one dedicated section of students learning Sanskrit as a third language in classes 6 and 9, according to a circular issued by the Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathana (KVS), an autonomous body under the Union Ministry of Education.
There are currently 1,334 (including 3 abroad) functional KVs across India, along with three operating internationally in Moscow, Kathmandu and Tehran. The circular dated May 29 and accessible to The Hindu is intended for all KV schools in India and abroad.
“KVS has ensured that the policy remains sensitive to its transferable student population by keeping Sanskrit as a common option in all KVs while offering regional languages as an alternative for students who are not subject to frequent transfers,” said a senior KVS official on condition of anonymity.
“KVS is already running a trilingual framework with Sanskrit as the third language. Now students will have a choice between studying Sanskrit or a scheduled regional language as the third language,” the official added.
Limited teachers, resources
Following three consecutive reminders issued on 10 April, 27 May and 29 May, the KVS ordered all KV principals to immediately expedite and complete the submission of data required for the compulsory implementation of a third language (R3) for grades 6 and 9 in the academic year 2026-27.
According to the guidelines, all KV schools must collect R3 language preferences from parents and students. The circular clarifies that the choice of R3 (Sanskrit or regional or state language from the scheduled languages) must be completely different from R1 (Hindi) and R2 (English).
Acknowledging that several KVs are facing challenges such as limited availability of teachers and resource constraints, the official insisted that the use of contract teachers for regional languages, gradual introduction and adoption of SCERT materials (where there are issues related to availability of NCERT materials) will help alleviate these constraints.
Changes to timetables
Due to the mandatory introduction of R3 and the subsequent changes to the school timetable – which changed the term allocations for several subjects in Year 9 – an accurate recalculation of staffing levels at individual school level is required, the circular said. Personnel calculations for various cadres across the KV are processed digitally through the Samagam portal.
Data shows that Sanskrit and Hindi are the third language choices in many Indian schools
“All deputy commissioners are requested to direct the directors to complete the uploading of R3 data on the (Samagam) portal on or before June 5 so that the revised headcount calculation through the portal can be done at the earliest,” the circular said.
Schools can create merged sections based on student numbers. For example, one section may accommodate a mixture of students (a few will choose Sanskrit and a few will choose regional languages if there are up to 15 students). Second, depending on the enrollment, there could be one section for Sanskrit and one section for regional languages. Third, there could be one Sanskrit section and two regional language sections or vice versa, but at least one Sanskrit section in each class is mandatory, the circular said.
Published – 12 June 2026 10:00 PM IST