Goa relaxes NEP norms, lets schools offer Portuguese, French for now

THe Goa authorities proclaimed a “ relaxation behavior” below the subject Education Policy (NEP) 2020, allowing schools offering foreign languages such as Portuguese and French in Classes 8, 9 and 10 to continue “until further orders.”Students are required to choose between three languages, typically a local language, a language native to India (usually Hindi), and English, which is considered a foreign language under NEP 2020.In Goa, a circular issued by the State Council for Educational Research and Training (SCERT) said that the languages to be followed would be R1: Konkani/Marathi, R2: English, and R3: Hindi or any other language native to India, including Konkani/Marathi if not opted as R1, leading to fears that the two foreign languages, Portuguese and French, would be discontinued.The Goa government, which has been implementing the NEP 2020 in a phased manner, also said the policy will be extended to all remaining Classes 1, 2, 4, 5, 7 and 8 from the 2026–27 academic year.Until 2025–26, NEP was being followed at the nursery level and in Classes 3, 6, 9 and 10.Under the old system, students from Classes 8 to 10 were required to study English as a first language and Hindi as a second language, and for the third language could choose between Konkani, Marathi, French, Portuguese and Sanskrit. The shift to the new system prompted fears that, under the NEP’s three-language formula, popular foreign language options such as Portuguese and French would be discontinued.An official from the state education department said, “The government moved to address these fears and has decided to grant a relaxation to schools already teaching French and Portuguese.” He added that while the NEP’s three-language formula mandates that at least two languages be native to India and allows for one foreign language—with English considered a foreign language—schools in Goa offering these options would be allowed to continue to do so.He said that the other option would be to allow students to opt for the language, but at the cost of English—similar to what is being offered to CBSE students—or to reduce them to elective or extracurricular subjects.“The NEP encourages the study of foreign languages and French, Portuguese, German, but that is typically for the higher classes and not from Std VIII, the system we have been following until now. Besides, the National Curriculum Framework is a guideline and not legally binding. States are free to choose their own language,” he added.Back in 2024, ahead of the academic year 2024–25, when the government began rolling out NEP for Class IX, Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant had assured that foreign language options like French, Portuguese and German would continue to remain available for students of Class IX, especially those who had opted for a foreign language in Class VIII.But the government’s relaxation “until further orders” has prompted an air of uncertainty.A circular issued by the SCERT states that “students who have opted for the language combination of English, Hindi and Sanskrit in Grade 7 & 8 during the academic year 2025-26 shall be permitted to continue with the same combination until they complete Grade 10” and that “existing schools offering French or Portuguese in Grades 8, 9 or 10 shall be permitted to continue these languages and are granted relaxation until further orders.”French and Portuguese are popular choices for students as a third language, with the option being offered by most Church-run schools in cities across Goa. On average, one-third of the students in these schools opt for Portuguese or French instead of Konkani or Marathi.“Portuguese has been a popular choice among students and has only been increasing. Among the schools that I teach in, the number of students who have been opting for Portuguese has grown from around one-fourth to one-third of the total students. Interest is certainly not waning,” Cecil de Melo, a teacher of Portuguese at schools in south Goa, said.The Portuguese option for students at the school level has implications for Goa University as well. The university, being the only one in the country offering Bachelor’s, Master’s and PhD degrees in Portuguese, relies on a pipeline of students from schools in Goa to help fill its classrooms.