A particular section from the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) Class X English test paper has been receiving widespread criticism over gender stereotypes and regressive notions recently. The comprehension passage spoke of ‘emancipation of the wife’ destroying parents’ authority over children and how a wife’s authority depends on the formal obedience she gives to her husband. The CBSE on Monday dropped the comprehension passage and the accompanying questions from the exam paper and decided to award full marks to the Class 10 students, following an outrage over the board allegedly promoting "gender stereotyping" and supporting "regressive notions".
“What people were slow to observe was that the emancipation of the wife destroyed the parent’s authority over children,” reads part of the passage to test comprehension of students in the examination held on Saturday. “It was only by accepting her husband’s sway that she (wife) could gain obedience from the young,” reads another part of the passage. The passage, which has since been dropped has been receiving criticism from netizens, parents, educationists and politicians over such downright stereotypical notions.
Excerpts from the passage have gone viral on social media platforms. The Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) has issued a notice seeking a detailed action report
The DCW, in its notice, has sought the name and designation of those responsible for writing the passage and asked whether any material published by the CBSE undergoes the scrutiny of experts to ensure that the content is gender-inclusive and does not promote gender stereotypes.
Parents have been condemning the board’s attitude and promotion of such rudimentary ideas. The issue has also been raised at the Lok Sabha to conduct a review on the gender sensitivity standards of the curriculum.