New Delhi, Sept. 15: The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has directed its 16,000 affiliated schools to implement "the three-language formula", fuelling fears that the sterile-sounding phrase packs enough potency to restrict the choices of students in learning foreign languages.

A CBSE circular has directed the schools to "obtain the information relating to the preference of the languages for study under the three-language formula".

Under the National Education Policy of 1968, "three-language formula" means a modern Indian language, apart from Hindi and English, in Hindi-speaking states. In non-Hindi-speaking states, it will be Hindi along with the regional language and English.

But the majority of the 13,000 private schools affiliated to the CBSE now offer the mother tongue or Hindi, English and foreign languages such as French, German and Mandarin.

Some schools fear the circular could be used to treat foreign languages as the "fourth language" or "hobby subject". They are apprehensive that many students may not prefer to add the burden by taking on an elective subject.

The government-run schools are already implementing the three-language formula.

If the three-language formula is implemented strictly, thousands of teachers engaged for teaching the foreign languages would lose their jobs, a principal said.

No comment could be obtained from CBSE chairman Seshu Kumar. But CBSE sources said the circular had merely sought "information".

One principal appeared to give the CBSE the benefit of doubt. "This circular says the CBSE is seeking information on language preference under the three-language formula. I do not know if seeking information means implementing the three-language formula," said Jyoti Bose, director of Springdale School, near Dhaula Kuan in Delhi.

However, the principal of another school, who did not want to be named, said the CBSE circular might appear to be an effort to get information but it limited the choices.

"The circular is nothing but a directive to implement the three-language formula," she said.

Some others saw nothing wrong even if the three-language formula was enforced. J.M. Khurana, the dean of students welfare at Delhi University, said students need not learn foreign languages in schools.

"The argument that learning foreign languages in school would open up more job opportunities is not convincing. The students are not joining any job after Class XII. They can very well study any foreign language in graduation," Khurana said.

The Sanskrit Shikshak Sangh has also welcomed any move to implement the three-language formula.

The government-run Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan (KVS) schools had introduced German as a third language for Classes VI, VII and VIII. The Sanskrit Shikshak Sangh had challenged it in court as a violation of the National Education Policy.

Before the court decided on the matter, the human resource development ministry last year asked the KVS to replace German with Sanskrit or any other Indian language as the third language.

"There cannot be one policy for government schools and another for private schools. The CBSE circular makes it clear that the private schools will now have to teach any modern Indian language as the third language to students admitted in Class VI," said an official of the Sanskrit Shikshak Sangh.

Sangita Bhatia, principal of KIIT World School here, said 90 per cent of the private schools offered German, French and Mandarin as third language to students of Classes VI, VII and VIII.

She said the schools had introduced these language subjects as the third language only after the CBSE allowed them to do so a few years ago.

"We will have to wait and watch for more clarity on this circular," Bhatia said.

She cited the National Curriculum Framework (NCF), the guiding document for drafting school textbooks, prepared by the National Council of Education Research and Training in 2005.

The NCF said that "in view of the fast-increasing international interaction and cooperation in socio-political, educational, cultural and economic fields, a growing need for learning more and more foreign languages like Chinese, Japanese, Russian, French, German, Arabic, Persian and Spanish has recently been felt".