CBSE drops controversial passage from English paper after Sonia slams 'blatantly misogynist' material

The Central Board of Secondary Examination (CBSE) on Monday decided to drop the controversial comprehension passage on women, families and disciplining children from its Class 10 English exam paper following a torrent of criticism from political leaders including Congress chief Sonia  Gandhi and on social media. According to a notice issued by the board, full marks will be awarded to all students for this section of questions. Noting that the passage “is not in accordance with the guidelines of the board with regard to the setting of question papers”, the circular read, “it has been decided to drop the passage No. 1 and its accompanying questions of the Question Paper Series JSK/1. Full marks will be awarded for this passage to all the students concerned”.   In the Class 10 CBSE exam conducted on Saturday, the English paper carried a comprehension passage with sentences such as “emancipation of women destroyed the parents’ authority over the children” and “it was only by accepting her husband’s way that a mother could gain obedience over the younger ones”, and questions based on the passage. The passage drew criticism for being ‘retrograde’ and offensive to women. As per Indian Express, the final paragraph read, “What people were slow to observe was that the emancipation of the wife destroyed the parent’s authority over the children. The mother did not exemplify the obedience upon which she still tried to insist… In bringing the man down from his pedestal the wife and the mother deprived herself, in fact of the means of discipline.” Following the criticism, the CBSE board had on Saturday referred the matter to a committee of subject experts. ‘Blatantly misogynist’ In Parliament on Monday morning, Sonia slammed the “blatantly misogynist” and “nonsensical” questions in the Class 10 CBSE paper, saying they reflected “extremely poorly” on the standards of education and testing. Raising the issue during the Zero Hour, Sonia demanded an immediate withdrawal of the said passage, an apology from the government and a review into the “gravest lapse”, reported PTI. “The passage contains atrocious statements such as ‘women gaining independence is the main reason for a wide variety of social and family problems’ and if ‘wives stops obeying their husbands, that is the main reason children and servants are indisciplined’,” she said, reading out excerpts from the Class-10 CBSE question paper. The Congress chief said the entire passage was riddled with such condemnable ideas and the questions that followed were equally “nonsensical”.

#WATCH | Congress interim chief Sonia Gandhi raises in Lok Sabha the issue of inclusion of a 'shockingly regressive passage' in CBSE's question paper for Grade 10 exam, demands withdrawal of the passage & apology

(Source: Sansad TV) pic.twitter.com/lO1Db4ty3q

— ANI (@ANI) December 13, 2021

Seeking a clarification from the government on the issue raised by Sonia, members of the Congress, the DMK, the IUML, the NCP and the National Conference walked out of the House. “I add my voice to the concerns of students, parents, teachers and educationists and I raise strong objections to such blatantly misogynist material finding its way into an important examination conducted by the CBSE,” Sonia said. She urged the Ministry of Education and the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) to immediately withdraw the questions, issue an apology and conduct a thorough review into this “gravest lapse” to ensure that “this is never, never repeated again. “I also urge that the Ministry of Education must conduct a review of the gender sensitivity standards of the curriculum and the textbooks,” she said. The passage was in Section A or Reading Section. One of the questions based on the passage asks whether the writer “seems to be a male chauvinist pig/an arrogant person”; “takes a light hearted approach to life”; “is a disgruntled husband”; or “has his family’s welfare at his heart”. According to the board, the correct answer would be “takes a light-hearted approach to life.” Questioning CBSE’s curriculum, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra wrote on Twitter:  

Unbelievable! Are we really teaching children this drivel?

Clearly the BJP Government endorses these retrograde views on women, why else would they feature in the CBSE curriculum? @cbseindia29 @narendramodi?? pic.twitter.com/5NZyPUzWxz

— Priyanka Gandhi Vadra (@priyankagandhi) December 13, 2021

More from India

Supreme Court clears Vantara elephant project, rejects PIL: Top 5 things to know Focus back to India-US trade deal: Trump’s negotiators landing in New Delhi tonight

This is the second controversy over the last two weeks based on CBSE Term 1 question papers. The first was after the Class 12 Sociology exam when the CBSE issued a public apology and described as an “error” this question: “The unprecedented scale and spread of anti-Muslim violence in Gujarat in 2002 took place under which government?” CBSE board has also issued a notification that it will consider observations on “ambiguity in questions and discrepancy in answer keys”. With inputs from PTI