The comprehension passage in the CBSE class 10 English question paper has sparked a controversy for allegedly promoting “gender stereotyping” and supporting “regressive notions” prompting the board to refer the matter to subject expert.
Raising this issue during the ‘Zero Hour’, Sonia Gandhi has said that a ‘shockingly regressive passage’ on the women published in the Class 10 CBSE Examination held on December 11 was derogatory and regressive for women. She asked the CBSE to withdraw the question and tender an apology.
Quoting the text of the passage of the question paper in the House, she said, “Entire passage is riddled with such condemnable ideas and the questions that follow are equally nonsensical.” She strongly objected to such ‘blatantly misogynistic material’.
Earlier in her tweet the Congress party General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra also objected to the Class 10 CBSE English question paper and accused the BJP government of endorsing these retrograde views on women.
The question paper for the English examination conducted on December 11 had a comprehension passage with sentences that read “emancipation of women destroyed the parent’s 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.
Seeking an apology from the CBSE, Sonia Gandhi also said that this passage reflects ‘extremely poorly on standards on education and testing’ and urged the Ministry of Education to immediately withdraw the question.
Congress leader and MP , Rahul Gandhi also on Monday hit out at the CBSE over a comprehension passage in the class 10 English paper, terming it as “disgusting” and a “ploy” of the RSS-BJP to crush the morale and future of the youth.
In a tweet, Gandhi said, “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”.
RAHUL GANDHI said
“Kids, do your best. Hard work pays. Bigotry doesn’t,”
Various excerpts from the passage have gone viral on social media with users calling out the board for supporting “misogynistic” and “regressive opinions” and hashtag “CBSE insults women” trending on the microblogging site Twitter.
