Human Resource Department (HRD) Minister, Prakash Javadekar, instructed the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) on Monday to conduct the Central Teacher Eligibility Test (CTET) 2018 examination in all 20 languages instead of just Hindi, English and Sanskrit.

Following the instruction, the Indian Express reports, the board might approach the High Court seeking more time to conduct the CTET 2018 examination. The CBSE’s CTET exam for this year was scheduled to be conducted on September 16th.

The CBSE had issued notification on May 31st for the 2018 CTET examination after the Delhi High Court, in April, asked the board to conduct the examination in four months. The notification created controversy, especially in Tamil Nadu, as students pointed out that there were just three options in languages, namely Hindi, English and Sanskrit. Political parties from the state termed this move as imposition of Hindi and Sanskrit languages over regional languages.

The CBSE clarified that the move was done to save time and to make the process of examination faster. The board had decided to conduct the first phase of examination in three languages and second phase would have been in the remaining languages.

HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar took note of the controversy and instructed the CBSE to conduct the exam in all 20 languages as it had been doing in previous years. He tweeted, “I have already directed CBSE to conduct examination in all 20 languages as was being done earlier.”

The CTET exam is mandatory for appointment to the Kendriya Vidyalayas and private institutions affiliated to the CBSE. The test consists of two papers, one for those who wish to teach Classes 1 to 5 and the other for teaching Classes 6 to 8. The test has two compulsory language sections. While the first is to decide proficiency in the chosen medium of instruction, the second is for communication and comprehension.

Experts had termed the move (of holding the CTET exam in 3 languages) disadvantageous to candidates from southern states. In 2016, approximately 7.06 lakh candidates from all over india applied for the CTET, a number which included 12,700 from Tamil Nadu.

“Rights of minority language students from Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Telangana, West Bengal and Gujarat have been denied,” educationist Prince Gajendra Babu told The Times of India. “If teachers are not allowed to write in these languages, how will they teach students?”