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The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) on Monday expressed regret and announced a committee to thoroughly review and strengthen the question paper setting process after outrage over a passage in class 10 English exam that allegedly promoted 'gender stereotyping' and 'regressive notions', even as the board dropped the part from the questionnaire and said that full marks will be awarded to students for it.
The issue was also raised in Lok Sabha, with Congress president Sonia Gandhi condemning the 'blatantly misogynist' and 'nonsensical' questions and saying it reflected 'extremely poorly' on the standards of education and testing.
Facing flak from various quarters, the board expressed 'regret' over the 'unfortunate incident' and said the passage was not in adherence with the guidelines issued by it.
'The CBSE is committed to equity and excellence in education and promotes inclusiveness and gender sensitivity. CBSE has dropped a passage and accompanying questions which were asked in English term 1 paper for class 10 as it was not in adherence with guidelines issued by the board for external paper setters.
'The CBSE regrets the unfortunate incident and is setting up an expert committee to thoroughly review and strengthen the question paper setting processes to avoid such occurrences in future,' the board said in an official statement.
In the Class-10 exam conducted on Saturday, the question 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', among others.
Excerpts from the passage have gone viral on social media platforms with users calling out the board for supporting 'misogynistic' and 'regressive opinions' and the hashtag '#CBSEinsultswomen' trending on Twitter.
The CBSE referred the matter to subject experts on Sunday and sought their feedback.
'A passage in one set of the English language and literature paper of the CBSE Class-10 first-term examination held on December 11 is not in accordance with the guidelines of the board with regard to the setting of question papers.
'In this backdrop and on the basis of the feedback received from the stakeholders, the matter was referred to a committee of subject experts. According to the panel's recommendation, it has been decided to drop the passage and the accompanying questions,' CBSE Examination Controller Sanyam Bhardwaj said.
'Full marks will be awarded for this passage to all the students concerned. To ensure uniformity and parity, full marks will also be awarded to students for passage number one for all sets of the question paper,' he added.
Raising the issue during the Zero Hour in Lok Sabha, Sonia Gandhi demanded an immediate withdrawal of the said passage, an apology from the government and a review into this 'gravest lapse'.
"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 stop obeying their husbands, that is the main reason children and servants are undisciplined'," she said, reading out excerpts from the question paper.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi also took to Twitter to raise the issue.
'Most CBSE papers so far were too difficult and the comprehension passage in the English paper was downright disgusting. Typical RSS-BJP ploys to crush the morale and future of the youth. Kids, do your best. Hard work pays. Bigotry doesn't,' he said.
Meanwhile, the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) issued a notice to the Board, seeking the name and designation of those responsible for writing the passage, choosing it for the question paper and whether any action has been taken against them.
It has also asked whether any material published by the CBSE undergoes the scrutiny of experts to ensure that the same is gender-inclusive and does not propagate gender stereotypes.
Shiv Sena MP Priyanka Chaturvedi also wrote to Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan seeking an unconditional apology, an explanation on how this passage was cleared and demanding disciplinary action against the 'subject experts'.
'It is astonishing how this passage was able to pass through the scrutiny of 'subject experts', which is further checked by the High-Powered Committee to see if the question papers follow the board's standards,' she said.
With the excerpts from the question paper going viral on social media platforms on Sunday, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra had also objected, saying, '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?'
The CBSE Class-12 sociology exam held earlier this month asked students to name the political party under which the 'anti-Muslim violence in Gujarat in 2002' took place, a question the board later said was 'inappropriate' and against its guidelines.