Low-stakes, school-based assessment is better suited to language acquisition than high-stakes board exams. Evaluate.

NEP 2020 calls for moving away from rote-based, summative testing towards continuous, formative and competency-based assessment [2]. On 28 September 2026 the Supreme Court applied this idea to language learning. It directed CBSE to assess Class 6 students' third language (R3) only through internal, school-based evaluation, with no Board pass/fail [1]. The claim in the question largely holds, provided low stakes do not turn into no standards.

Merits of low-stakes, school-based assessment

• Learning a language takes time: UNESCO's GEM Report says at least six years of mother-tongue teaching are needed for learning gains to last [3]. A Class 6 child has about four years before a Class 10 Board exam in what is often a new language.
• It tests skills, not memory: Speaking, listening and reading are best judged in class over time. A single written exam rewards memorisation. NEP's Holistic Progress Cards give a 360-degree view of each child [2].
• Children learn better when comfortable: Justice Bagchi asked whether children were "comfortable", not merely able to "adapt" [1]. Exam anxiety slows language learning.
• Schools being ready does not mean children are ready: By the Solicitor-General's own figures, 1.2% of 28,819 CBSE schools had still not adapted to the scheme [1].
• It respects federal sensitivities: NEP says "no language will be imposed on any student" [4]. A Board pass/fail in R3 would turn a recommended formula into a compulsory one.

Limitations

• Risk of neglect: Without pass/fail, schools and students may treat R3 as a free period. The language gets taught on paper but not learnt.
• Uneven rigour: Internal marks vary from school to school. The order does not say how CBSE will check the quality of internal R3 assessment [1].
• Deferral with no end date: The relaxation has been extended one batch at a time, first to Classes 7–9 and now to Class 6 [1]. It could quietly become a permanent exemption.
• Board exams can be reformed: CBSE Board exams now include 50% competency-based questions [2], so high-stakes tests need not be rote.

Verdict: Low-stakes, school-based assessment suits language learning better, especially in early years and for a new language, but it needs accountability. CBSE could record R3 skill levels on the Class 10 marksheet without linking them to pass/fail. It could use PARAKH norms to standardise internal assessment [2] and fix an end date for the relaxation linked to teacher availability. This balanced model would keep NEP's promise of multilingualism without imposition and move India closer to SDG 4's goal of quality learning for all.