CBSE Strikes Controversy Again as Class 10 Board Paper Regrets Emancipation of Women

New Delhi: Stating that “In bringing the man down from his pedestal the wife and the mother deprived herself, in fact of the means of discipline,” in the Class 10 Term 1 board exam English paper, the Central Board for Secondary Education (CBSE) has come under fire again.

The closing paragraph in Section A (comprehension of unseen passages) mentions that “What people were slow to observe was that the emancipation of the wife destroyed the parent’s authority over the children,” it added that “It was only by accepting her husband’s sway that she could gain obedience from the young. The decision might be hers but the unpopularity was his, the more easily borne in that he might not be there.”

The paper which was held on Saturday has since then attracted ire from various quarters.

The Communist Party of India (Marxist) posed questions to Union Minister for Women and Child Development, Smriti Irani. “Why are you silent? Get your Govt to take action against

CBSE promoting patriarchal sexist approaches,” the Left party said.

Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra took to Twitter and wrote: “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.”

Tamil Nadu spokesperson of Congress, Lakshmi Ramachandran, also expressed similar views when she said that, “This outrageously nonsensical reading passage appeared in the 10th CBSE board exam paper today. What are we teaching our children? CBSE has to give an explanation and tender an apology for inflicting our children with this.”

The Public Relations Officer at CBSE, Rama Sharma told The Indian Express on Sunday that “The matter will be referred to subject experts for considered views as per the pre-set procedures of the board. As regards the correct answer option and the answer key released by the board, it is clarified that if the experts opine that the passage elicits multiple interpretations, appropriate action will be taken to protect the interests of the students.”

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’s answer key, the correct answer is “takes a light hearted approach to life.”

According to News18, the CBSE is now reconsidering the matter. “A passage in one set of the English paper of CBSE Class 10 first term examination has received mixed reactions from a few parents and students stating that ‘it seems to support regressive notions on family and allegedly promotes gender stereotyping’. The matter will be referred to subject experts for considered views as per the set procedures of the board,” said CBSE, assuring that “appropriate action will be taken to protect the interests of the students.”

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?”