Dubai: Thousands of Indian students in the Gulf studying in scores of Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE)-affiliated schools can now study Arabic under the revised language policy.
The new framework is proving to be more flexible than initially expected and has eased concerns among school managements, according to Emirates media reports quoting school authorities.
The CBSE has introduced three major revised policies for Gulf and overseas schools — a newly mandated three-language formula, a specialised global curriculum and a hybrid evaluation system.
The language policy for Classes 9 and 10 had initially raised concerns about how the new rules would affect thousands of Indian students studying in schools across the United Arab Emirates and other Gulf nations from the 2026–27 academic session.
One of the major concerns among UAE schools was the requirement for students to study two native Indian languages. However, school principals said the revised guidelines provide sufficient flexibility for Gulf schools to continue teaching Arabic, while ensuring students would not have to appear for an additional board examination in the subject in Grade 10.
Pramod Mahajan, principal of Sharjah Indian School, said there was “no issue for foreign schools” under the revised policy, explaining that only one Indian native language would be mandatory for overseas institutions.
He said “R1 (First Language) can be English,” while “R2 can be Hindi, Malayalam, Urdu or Tamil,” adding that “R3 for UAE students can be Arabic.”
“R3 will not be evaluated by the board but will appear on the final mark sheet based on internal assessment and grading,” he said.
Mahajan added that CBSE’s international presence across 26 countries had been taken into account while framing the policy.
“In Grade 10, only R1 and R2 will be board-evaluated. R3 will differ from country to country, as CBSE operates in 26 nations worldwide,” he said.
He also noted that the policy includes exemptions for People of Determination and students shifting between overseas schools and India.
Educators reiterated that one of the biggest concerns was how the rule would apply to students of non-Indian nationalities studying in CBSE schools in the UAE.
Muhammad Ali Kottakkualm, principal of Cosmopolitan International Indian School, said schools had already begun preparations to implement the three-language formula, though the earlier requirement had posed challenges.
“The requirement that two of the R1, R2 and R3 should be Indian languages posed a major challenge, especially for students of other nationalities,” he said.
